


5 Times Adrien Didn't Get Akumatized (And the One Time He Did)

by mokklie



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst and Fluff, F/M, I can't think of tags right now I'll fix this later, dairy jokes, edit: so much angst haha whoops, edit: yea there's a reveal, kinda sorta crack idk, let adrien eat 2k16, there's family stuff watch out, there's probably gonna be a reveal in there tbh, this is a lot more angsty than originally intended
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2017-03-29
Packaged: 2018-05-19 06:40:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5957419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mokklie/pseuds/mokklie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times Adrien almost got akumatized and the one time he actually did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Punisher

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of this: http://miraculyss.tumblr.com/post/138595721308/megatraven-spontaneouslydyingdragons  
> and this: http://treeprince.tumblr.com/post/109315603892/when-u-tryna-be-cheesy-but-everyone-around-u-is
> 
> I started off intending for this to be a crack fic but I kinda messed up?

“Bye bye, pretty butterfly,” sang Ladybug. “Miraculous Ladybug!”

There was the customary explosion of her Lucky Charm as a befuddled milkman sat up on the ground. He shook his head and looked around dazedly as the last effects of the akuma faded.

“That was, by far, the worst akuma we’ve ever faced,” declared Chat Noir in an unusually grave voice.

Ladybug satisfied smile changed to a quizzical one as she shifted her attention to him.

“The worst?” she repeated. “He wasn’t that dangerous. The worst he did was offend those vegans when he changed their water into milk.”

“I disagree, my lady,” said Chat in the same serious tone. “The worst damage that he did was offend _me_. _You_ spent most of the battle too far away to hear my dairy puns, and _he_ ,” Chat turned to the milkman and advanced, “didn’t understand them at all.”

Ladybug rolled her eyes and her miraculous beeped warningly. “Bye, Chat!” she said, and dashed off.

“I was _churning_ out puns,” Chat continued, oblivious, “but he didn’t laugh, or groan, or— or anything! How _dairy_ not acknowledge my comedic genius!”

The milkman gazed up at Chat blankly.

“You _see_?” Chat exclaimed, turning back to Ladybug. She was already gone, a flash of red disappearing around the corner. He stood there stunned for a moment, then sighed heavily and twirled his staff. He leaped away from the scene as well just as the news reporters spotted him.

Several blocks away, he settled on the rooftop of a bakery. He paced moodily, staff still in hand.

_I just wanted to be cheesy,_ he thought. _Why are akumas always laughtose intolerant?_

Of course, nobody was around to appreciate this brilliant new pun. Chat sighed once again and sat down, hugging his knees to his chest.

In truth, it wasn’t just the puns that were getting him down. As Adrien, he’d been pulled out of school for a weeklong fashion event in Milan. He’d been forced to behave professionally the entire time and had always gotten to bed far too tired to reply to Nino’s texts. Today was his first day back in Paris. The akuma attack had showed up out of nowhere, as usual, and he had jumped for joy at the thought of reuniting with his lady and exchanging the banter that he missed so much. However, the fight had taken longer than usual, and conversation had been limited. He was back in Paris, had seen his lady, and yet he was still starved for social interaction. It was frustrating…and lonely.

Chat didn’t notice the dark butterfly fluttering towards him. It landed on his staff, which he was still clutching, and he felt a strange rush. He sat up straight. A strange symbol glowing pink appeared before him.

**Punisher,** said a voice in his head. **I am Papillon. You want Ladybug to be impressed by your quick wit. I can help you, but I’ll need something in return—**

Chat cut him off with a snort of laughter. “Punisher!” he repeated, and lay back on the roof, nearly howling. “ _Pun_ isher! That’s hilarious!”

**Chat Noir,**  said Papillon sternly. His voice was a little quieter.

Chat was laughing too hard to respond.

_Stop laughing,_ demanded Papillon, sounding as though he were calling to Chat from very far away.

Papillon’s symbol faded, and a butterfly detached itself from Chat’s staff. It was no longer completely black. It was now speckled with splotches of white, and it fluttered unsteadily. Chat’s laughter halted as he watched it with fascination. It flew slowly in small circles, as though unsure of itself. Then it froze, shivered, and crumbled into dust.

Chat stood and back away hastily. A slight breeze came and blew the dust away.

_I need to tell Ladybug!_ he thought, then paused. _I can’t tell Ladybug. She would ask why I almost got akumatized, and I… I can’t let her know. She’s so strong, how could she ever understand…_

He stood alone on that rooftop, irresolute. Then he shook his head. _This was a moment of weakness,_ he decided. _I won’t let it happen again. I’ll be strong for you, my lady._

He turned and dashed away, feeling disturbed.


	2. Cat Burglar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let him eat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first attempt at writing this chapter didn't feel believable, so I scrapped it and started over. Also, the 'Adrien almost gets akumatized because of sweets' idea sounded a lot funnier in my head than it turned out in writing.

The second time it happened was almost a year later. Adrien had spent the afternoon at his classmate Marinette’s house so they could help each other study. Alya and Nino were supposed to come as well, but only Adrien had shown up. It had taken a while for Marinette to get comfortable around him, but Adrien was raised to be patient and kind, and in this situation, it paid off. A more fierce personality had started to shine through her shyness, and Adrien had found ‘Princess,’ Chat’s nickname for her, on the tip of his tongue several times.

Adrien had only one regret about the entire thing: the sweets. At many intervals, Marinette’s parents had emerged from the trapdoor on Marinette’s floor, bearing platters of home baked goods. Cookies, croissants, macarons, and scones had entered the room with tantalizing scents. They were all obviously fresh from the oven. Adrien drooled at the sight of them.

He didn’t get to eat a single crumb.

Marinette was always too quick to scold and chase her parents out of the room, and with them, the sweets. Adrien was too slow to stop her, and too polite to ask her to reconsider. When evening rolled along, Tom and Sabine popped into the room one last time.

“Dinner is ready!” Sabine announced.

“Maman—” Marinette began, ready to berate her parents again for interrupting their studying.

“Adrien, aren’t you hungry?” Tom interrupted.

“ _Yes_ ,” Adrien answered quickly, jumping to his feet. Marinette looked startled, and Adrien realized he had forgotten his manners.

“I-I mean…” he stammered and sat back down. “I don’t want to, er, impose, or anything, and, er, M-Marinette, if you’re not hun—I mean, should we keep studying? If you want? I-I don’t need food—”

“ _OhmygodAdrienI’msosorry_ ,” she squeaked and jumped out of her chair. “Of course you need food! Why didn’t you say anything this whole time, oh god—”

“Hurry up, you two,” said Sabine with a smile, and she and Tom went down the stairs.

Adrien was flooded with a feeling of relief, and his stomach growled in anticipation of the meal.

Then his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered. “Hello?”

“Your car is waiting outside,” said Nathalie. “Come out immediately.” She hung up.

Adrien stood still for a moment, then sighed and put the phone back.

“You have to leave?” Marinette guessed.

He nodded sadly and started collecting his things.

“I’ll go pack some food for you to take,” Marinette said quickly. “It’s the least I can do for starving you.”

She dashed to the trapdoor and down the stairs before he could muster a polite protest. When he went down into the bakery a minute later, his heart lightened a little at the sight of the Dupain-Cheng family waiting for him at the door. Marinette had a huge bakery box in her hands, and she handed it to him carefully, blushing and apologizing all the while.

“Thanks for everything,” Adrien said with a bright smile.

“Come over anytime, son,” Tom said sincerely and opened the door for Adrien.

Adrien left, a little dazed at the hospitality of the family. The car was parked at the edge of the sidewalk; the Gorilla stood holding the door open. Adrien nodded at him in greeting and climbed in.

The drive home was short, but it felt like it took hours. Adrien didn’t open the box the entire time. He wanted to savor whatever was inside. He planned to skip dinner and take the box straight to his room and open it there. Then he planned to eat everything in the box.

The smell that wafted from the box put him in a strange, trance-like state. Something stirred in his memory, something…warm, and inviting. It tempted him almost as much as the contents of the box. _If I open the box,_ he thought, _maybe I’ll remember…_

The car slowed to a stop, and Adrien realized he was on the point of opening the box. He shook himself, and got out of the car. He was anxious to get to his room. He walked briskly to the front door, pushed it open, took three steps in, and stopped.

Gabriel Agreste stood at the top of the stairs with Nathalie, looking every bit as cold as he did on the enormous ‘family photo’ on the wall behind him.

Neither Agreste said any word of greeting. Adrien stood stock still, trying to keep his breathing even and his heart rate calm. His father’s dispassionate gaze bored into him.

_Why is he here? Is he waiting for me?_ Adrien wondered. _I must have done something terrible for him to show up in person._

Gabriel Agreste took a step… and another… he walked down the stairs as deliberately as though he were calculating the placement of his every footfall. His eyes stayed fixed on his son. It seemed like it took a lifetime before he came to a halt, towering over his son.

“Hello, father,” Adrien said. Why was his throat so dry?

The man held out his hand, palm up. Adrien looked down at the hand for several seconds.

Then, hardly daring to breathe, he placed the box on the hand. Gabriel’s other hand rose, then opened the box and surveyed the contents.

The smell of warm pastries and love rolled out and filled the empty air. Adrien remembered a warm, happy time when his father smiled and laughed. He remembered a woman handing him a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie. The woman wasn’t Nathalie. Adrien’s knees threatened to buckle.

The man closed the box gingerly. Adrien still stared at his hand rather than his face.

Gabriel Agreste finally spoke. “You have several photo shoots scheduled this week. You cannot afford to eat sweets.”

“Yes, father,” Adrien said.

The man turned and walked back up the stairs, handing the box to Nathalie as he passed her. He went up the right-hand staircase. Adrien stood alone at the bottom of the stairs, hands clenched into fists to prevent them from shaking. Nathalie gave him a sympathetic look, then turned went up the left-hand staircase.

Adrien took a few calming breaths, then forced his legs to move. At first his movements were stiff, but soon he was all but running through the house. He reached his bedroom and closed the door behind him, removing his bag and dropping it carelessly on the floor. There was a muffled, “Ow!” from within it. Adrien marched over to his bed and crashed onto it, face first.

“Would you be more careful?” said Plagg in injured tones, zooming out of the bag. He drew in breath to start complaining and demanding cheese for his pains, but then he spotted Adrien.

“Hey, uh…” he said awkwardly inching closer. “You okay there, kid?”

There was no answer. Plagg sighed and started searching the room for cheese.

Adrien didn’t stir until long past midnight. Plagg was snoring in a little ball on the back of his head. He awoke with a yell when Adrien lifted his head and darted into the air. He bit back his complaints when he saw how bloodshot Adrien’s eyes were. Adrien rose slowly from his bed.

“Plagg,” he said in a hoarse voice. “Claws out.”

A couple minutes later, Chat Noir was jumping from roof to roof, free running through Paris. He came to a stop on the roof across the street from a certain bakery.

“Cataclysm,” he hissed, and the power rushed through him. He leaped down to the street and grasped the door handle. It crumbled away. The door opened and he entered. The beep of his miraculous was almost deafening in the silence. Chat made his way through the dark, empty store and climbed over the counter. The door to the kitchen was unlocked, so he entered. It was almost pitch black, but he could see just fine.

His miraculous beeped again, and he silently began searching for cookies.

~

In a room upstairs, Tom Dupain’s eyes fluttered open. He was lying in bed on his back, and goosebumps covered his arms. He had the distinct feeling that something was wrong. He lay there, staring at the ceiling, and waited. Everything was silent, except for his wife’s breathing and his own pounding heart. A minute or two passed, then he thought he heard the faintest beep, and a muffled crash from the bakery.

He sat up quickly and swung his legs out of bed.

“Wus’happ’n?” mumbled Sabine, blinking herself awake.

“I think I forgot to turn off the light in the kitchen,” Tom lied. “Go back to sleep, dear.”

Sabine nodded and closed her eyes. Tom got up and started searching for a flashlight.

~

A black butterfly flew in through the open door to the bakery.

~

Chat had found his prize: a cookie tin. He held it in his grasp triumphantly, then sat down on the kitchen floor and tried to open it. The lid wouldn’t budge.

His miraculous beeped again and he froze.

_I’m stealing,_ Chat reflected. _I’m breaking and entering. How could I do this to them? After how kind they were to me today?_

His night vision clouded with tears. He didn’t see the butterfly until it landed on the cookie tin.

**Cat Burglar,** purred a familiar voice in his mind.

~

Tom entered the kitchen and turned on the light. Sitting on the floor with Papillon’s symbol glowing in front of his tearful face was none other than Chat Noir. Tom didn’t hesitate a second longer. He grabbed the cookie tin from Chat’s grasp and crushed it with his bare hands. Papillon’s symbol disappeared. A black butterfly fell out of the tin and Tom swatted it to the floor, where it burst into dust.

Chat blinked confusedly. His miraculous gave a final beep, and then it was Adrien Agreste who was sitting there in his place.

Adrien slowly lifted his gaze from his hands to Tom Dupain’s concerned face. The big man knelt down in front of him and put a big hand on Adrien’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Adrien whispered. “Th-there’s no excuse for what—”

“It’s gonna be okay, son,” Tom said gently, and pulled the boy into a hug. “Don’t worry about a thing, I’ll take care of it.” He pulled back so Adrien could see his reassuring smile.

“After all,” he continued, “I _did_ say come over anytime.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't really proofread, so if you see anything wonky, be sure to let me know.  
> Thanks for reading! I'll try to get the next chapter out quicker than this one.


	3. Lovebug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things are revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's like 1 am what even is proofreading. There's definitely gonna be mistakes in this, so if you spot them (hahah 'spot' them geddit? Cuz ladybugs have spots?) let me know.

The third time was a little more than a month later.

Adrien kept replaying the night of the Cat Burglar incident in his head. Sabine had joined him and Tom when neither of them were paying attention.

~

“Who wants some hot chocolate?” her sleepy voice in the doorway startled them both.

“D-dear, how did—uh, didn’t you go back to sleep?” Tom stammered.

“Of course not,” she yawned. “The last time you used the ‘forgot to turn off the light’ excuse, I came down here an hour later to find you serving a tiny, carefully prepared meal to a couple of rats.”

“It wasn’t my fault they were adorable,” Tom grumbled.

Adrien stared at the big man, but found he was able to picture the scene all too well.

“At least you’re harboring a cat this time,” Sabine said as she entered the kitchen. She knelt by her husband and gently pulled Adrien’s head closer to her so she could plant a motherly kiss in his hair, then got up again. “I’ll go make that hot chocolate.”

“Could you get me some cheese too?” groaned a tiny voice from the floor.

“Plagg!” Adrien exclaimed and picked up the exhausted kwami.

“Adrien,” Plagg huffed, “you’re a great kid and all, but please don’t put us through that again anytime soon.”

“What kind of cheese?” asked Sabine, unperturbed by the miniature talking cat.

“Camembert, if you have any,” Plagg replied. Sabine nodded and drifted away to find cheese and make hot chocolate.

“You don’t think we’ve woken up Marinette, do you?” Adrien asked Tom anxiously.

“Nah, she sleeps like the dead after she gets home at night,” Tom assured him, then settled down into a more comfortable position.

~

Adrien recalled, still a little disbelieving a month later, the soft conversation they had had over three mugs of hot chocolate and a block of camembert on the kitchen floor.

Tom and Sabine were the kindest people he’d ever met. Now that they knew his secret, speaking to them felt…natural. They understood, or at least tried to. They encouraged him, dried his tears, and calmed his fears. They wore identical expressions of protective fury when he explained what had happened to the pastries. They asked him about school, and about his superhero life. They were the parents Adrien never had.

~

He had been careful not to gush about his love for Ladybug, but somehow Sabine picked up on that detail anyway and slid in a sly remark that made him choke on his drink.

Tom thumped on Adrien’s back helpfully as the boy tried to remember how to breathe.

“Ooohhh, you have _no_ idea how bad he’s got it,” Plagg drawled through a mouthful of cheese. “Ladybug’s _all_ he ever talks about at home. He’s obsessed with trying to figure out who she is.”

Adrien tried to shush the traitorous kwami, but only succeeded in coughing more.

“No need to be embarrassed, sweetie,” Sabine told Adrien cheerfully. “There’s no secret a mother can’t find out.”

“Besides, your Ladybug could be a lot closer than you think,” Tom added with a conspiratorial wink.

~

“ _Adrien!_ ” Nino whispered.

“Hm?” Adrien replied, leaving the memories alone in favor of returning to the present moment. Where was he again? He could hear muffled rainfall… Oh yeah, in the school library. With Nino, Alya, and Marinette. Reviewing for tomorrow's physics test.

“Dude, I’ve said your name eighty times already,” Nino complained in a low voice.

“Sorry, what’s going on? What was the question?” Adrien asked.

“Are you free to come over for dinner tonight?” Marinette repeated. “Nino and Alya said they can.”

“Are you kidding?” Adrien grinned. “Where your family’s cooking is concerned, I’m always free.”

In the month following the incident, Adrien became a frequent visitor to the Dupain-Cheng house. They were somehow able to come up with a million good reasons for him to come visit all the time. 

He was grateful for a couple reasons, the more obvious one being that they made him feel like he belonged. His house belonged to Gabriel Agreste, but he felt increasingly that his home was with the Dupain-Chengs.

The other reason was that he was grateful was for the inevitably large amount of time he got to spend with Marinette. She emerged a little more from her shell every time he spoke with her, and she was really a wonderful person.

_Not that she wasn’t a wonderful person before,_ Adrien amended with a smile, _it’s just easier to see it now that she’s letting me get closer to her_. _She’s funny, smart, caring, strong, passionate, talented, and so much more. I can’t_ believe _I never tried to get closer to her before. Honestly, her whole family is just_ too pure _for this world…Hang on, is Nino saying something._

“…dude? Earth to Adrien, are you there?” Adrien became aware of a hand waving in front of his face.

“Huh?” he said vaguely, turning to the owner of the hand.

“You okay, dude?” Nino asked. “You were spacing out again.”

“Oh, sorry, I just, uh…” he trailed off as he noticed how red Marinette’s face was. “Wait, what happened?”

“Not much,” Alya drawled smugly, leaning back in her chair. “Just you staring into my best friend’s pretty eyes with a big, goofy smile on your face. You sure you visit her so often just for the food, or is there something you two aren’t telling me?”

“Alya!” Marinette squeaked.

“S-sorry, I-I didn’t mean to, uh, stare, I-I just…” he tried to think of an excuse. “…was lost in thought?” he finished weakly. His face felt as hot as Marinette’s looked.

_‘Felt as hot as she looked?’ I really could’ve phrased that better,_ he thought. _I mean— stop it, Adrien. Marinette’s your friend. Think about Ladybug, think about Ladybug, th— Oh, God. I’m staring again, aren’t I?_

He cleared his throat uncomfortably and turned back to Nino. Nino looked just as amused as Alya. Not a good sign. “S-speaking of good food,” he said and winced as his voice cracked, “what time is it, Nino?”

Adrien glared at Nino’s smirking face until Nino shrugged in defeat and pulled out his phone.

“It’s almost five,” Nino reported. “We should start heading over to Marinette’s.”

The group gathered up their things and headed out. Rain was falling heavily, and Adrien was the only one who hadn’t brought an umbrella. Nino didn’t share with him; he laughed and dodged away into the rain when Adrien tried to squeeze under the umbrella with him. Marinette, however, took mercy on him. The four friends hurried off through the downpour to the bakery. Marinette and Adrien both tried to think of anything besides the warmth they felt radiating off each other. Adrien settled on thinking about Ladybug. Marinette focused her thoughts on Chat’s dumb puns. Both pretended not to notice Alya sneakily taking pictures of them on her phone.

Tom and Sabine greeted the teens with mugs of hot chocolate and brought them upstairs to the living room. Then Marinette disappeared with them to help finish cooking and set the table, leaving Adrien alone with Alya and Nino.

The pair turned out to be completely insufferable when given free reign. They had been dating for nearly three months now, and their idea of a fun time with friends was apparently sitting wrapped up in each others’ arms on the couch while giving Adrien relationship advice. Despite his protests, Alya rattled off lists of Marinette’s favorite things ( _like roses and the color pink,_ Adrien noted) while Nino added in things like “bring her flowers” and “Communication is everything, dude.”

Adrien was ecstatic when Tom showed up to announce that dinner was ready. He didn’t think he could bring himself to face Marinette yet, so he excused himself to the bathroom while Nino and Alya followed Tom to the dining room. It took him a few minutes to regain some control of himself and calm the redness of his cheeks, then he followed his nose through the familiar house to the dining room.

When he saw that the only seat not yet taken at the table was next to Marinette, he realized that the universe was conspiring against him. _Or perhaps darker forces are at work here,_ he thought, narrowing his eyes at Alya and Nino’s identical toothy grins.

~

“What’s wrong with me, Plagg?” hours later, Adrien’s voice was muffled into his pillow.

“Judging by your behavior, I’d say you’re in love,” was Plagg’s disinterested reply. “Can I have some cheese now?”

“In love?” Adrien repeated in a hoarse whisper, lifting his head from the pillow. “With Marinette? Impossible.”

“Well, you’re acting the same way you did the day you fell in love with Ladybug,” Plagg observed.

“But that’s just it, Plagg,” Adrien pleaded. “I still love Ladybug. I can’t be in love with both Ladybug _and_ Marinette.”

“You’re overthinking this,” Plagg said with a long-suffering sigh, and gently settled down on Adrien’s pillow. “Tell me why you love Ladybug.”

Adrien stared at the kwami in surprise for a second, then said in a measured voice, “She’s just…amazing. She’s strong, she’s beautiful, and she’s the bravest person I’ve ever met. She really cares about everyone, even when they’re akumatized. _Especially_ when they’re akumatized. She’s quick-witted, and sassy, and… and she smells like cookies.”

Plagg nodded gravely, then asked, “Isn’t Marinette all those things, too?”

Adrien opened his mouth, but found he had no words to say. Plagg was right, even about the akuma thing. Adrien recalled how Marinette had been so kind to Nathanael when he had gotten akumatized. She’d tamed his rampage just by speaking to him. And of course she smelled like cookies; she lived in a bakery. She was so much like Ladybug, Adrien realized. Right down to those big blue eyes and pigtails.

_There’s an answer here if I can just think hard enough,_ Adrien thought.

Plagg watched the gears turning in Adrien’s head with amusement. “Take your time, lover boy,” he said. “But not too long, because I still want cheese.”

_What am I missing?_ Adrien wondered. _There’s something really obvious going on here that I’m not seeing._

_“Your Ladybug might be closer than you think.”_

_“There’s no secret a mother can’t find out.”_

_“She sleeps like the dead after she gets home at night.”_

_At night? Every night? Where could she be coming home from at night?_

Plagg yawned, then said the magic words: “Speaking of, weren’t you gonna go patrol with Ladybug tonight?”

_Patrol._

Adrien’s eyes widened and stared at him. His mouth opened and closed again, gaping like a fish.

“Figured it out, have you?” Plagg remarked dryly.

~

A week passed and Adrien found himself laughing as he and Marinette won yet another difficult battle on Ultimate Mecha Strike III. They were sitting at the desk in her room. Nino and Alya were out on a dinner date.

Marinette leaped out her seat with a cry of victory, and put out a fist to Adrien. He fist-bumped her without hesitation, and suddenly, both of them paused. Marinette’s smile froze on her face, and Adrien’s stomach flipped.

He hastily pulled back his arm and rubbed the back of his neck. “Good teamwork?” he tried awkwardly.

He winced at how he made it sound like a question. Her gaze sharpened in response, searching for something in his face.

_Does she know?_ he thought, his heart pounding. _Does she know I know? Does she see who I am?_

“Good teamwork,” she repeated, and sat down slowly.

Neither of them made any move to grab their controllers again. The silence stretched and it seemed the atmosphere held its breath in anticipation. Adrien didn’t know why he’d kept his discovery secret from her, and now she was suspicious.

_What do I say?_ “You’re Ladybug.” _WHY did I say THAT?_

“How do you know?” she asked with wide eyes. “I-I mean, I, um, I’m just, Marinette, th-the baker’s clumsy daughter, I can’t be—I’m not L-ladybug…”

“You are,” Adrien said shortly. “You’re Ladybug, you’re my lady, my princess, and I’m—”

“Chat Noir,” she whispered. There was a look of horror on her face. “ _You’re_ Chat Noir.”

The air around them felt thin, like it would run out any second.

_She’s scared of me,_ Adrien realized. _I’m in love with her, and I’m scaring her. Why did I just blurt it out? I can’t do anything right. She’s terrified. I’m not anything she wants._

“I’m sorry,” he croaked, then lurched out of his seat. “If I could be s-someone else, anyone else—” He felt the urge to run far, far away. “B-but I’m not, and you’re clearly uncomfortable with me, a-and I should’ve…I shouldn’t’ve…” he was backing away from her rapidly, too panicked to notice her shocked expression changing to one of deep concern.

“Adrien?” said Plagg’s voice near Adrien’s ear. He must’ve gotten bored and escaped from Adrien’s bag ages ago.

An all-too-familiar madness settled into Adrien’s mind, and it became difficult to think rationally. He bolted to the ladder that led to the roof, and was out in the open air in no time.

“Transform me,” he hissed, and then Chat Noir took off into the evening as if death itself chased him. He didn’t spare a glance behind him, so he didn’t see Ladybug in hot pursuit.

He raced from rooftop to rooftop along the Seine with reckless abandon. He didn’t know where he was going or how long it would take him to get there. All he knew was that he had to escape. All it took was one slip of the foot, and he tripped. He was rolling off the roof towards the river, out of control. Instinct kicked in and he twisted midair as though to land on all fours, but there was no land below him. Just water.

Something hit his midsection hard while he was midtwist, knocking the air out of him, and then he and Ladybug were tumbling onto the shore. He gasped for breath as he rolled across the cobblestone. His head hit something hard and the world went black.

~

Ladybug was reeling from the impact. One of her pigtails was undone. The sky above her was spinning alarmingly fast, so she shut her eyes tight. She lay on her back with her eyes squeezed shut for a full minute, then she heard a groan.

Her eyes popped open and she leaped to her feet. The ground under her felt like it shifted violently. She almost puked.

There was another groan, then a hiss. She spun to the sound and saw Chat convulsing on the ground. His eyes were half open and Papillon’s symbol was flickering uncertainly in front of his face.

Marinette’s eye was drawn to his hands. One hand was clenched into a fist, and she saw what looked like a hair tie was clutched in it. Her hair tie.

~

Chat stood in an endless blackness. The only illumination was from faintly glowing white butterflies. They fluttered around in the silence, and he found them strangely comforting.

**Chat Noir,** Papillon’s voice echoed through the darkness. **I know who you are. You are Adrien Agreste.**

Chat felt angry. He hissed and spat, spinning around, looking for the source of the voice.

**You cannot keep resisting,** Papillon said. **There’s too much of me in you. Didn’t your kwami tell you that your Lovebug is the only one who can purify an akuma?**

Fear gripped Adrien’s heart at the mention of his lady. He tried to run through the darkness to find her, but his feet were stuck to the ground.

**I know who she is, too.** There was smugness in his voice, and Adrien stopped cold. **Thanks to your wildness and your weakness, I see now that Ladybug is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.**

Suddenly, the sky split in half, and blinding light flooded in.

**I will find you both,** Papillon promised as a hand reached down from the tear in the sky and carried Chat into the light.

~

“…up Adrien please wake up Adrien please wake…” somebody was chanting those words over and over, and Chat slowly opened his eyes. Marinette’s worried face hovered over him, lips moving as though in prayer. Half of her hair was down. He became aware that her fingers were running repeatedly over his scalp.

_Papillon got me again,_ he thought. _And he told me something important. I don’t remember what it was._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading! I don't know how confusing the last bit of that turned out since I'm updating this while sleep deprived. If it wasn't confusing, that's incredible. If it was confusing, congratulations on reading through to the end of this chapter. I'll try to do the next chapter a little quicker and hopefully make it more cohesive.


	4. Bedbug

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloé is an akuma factory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't tell if I'm getting better or worse with each chapter. I feel like I always start off a little stronger than before, and then go plunging off the deep end halfway through.  
> Also, once again, what in the heck is proofreading? If you see anything that looks like it shouldn't be here, let me know.

The fourth time was exactly two weeks later.

Adrien woke up in cold sweat for the fourth time that morning. Since the last incident, he had been having a recurring nightmare that repeated the visions he had seen then. Every night, the dreams got more vivid. In the past few days, they had gotten more elaborate, evolving into imagined scenarios where he was held captive by Papillon and used as bait to lure Ladybug there. He was never able to warn her.

He wasn’t sure why he didn’t tell Ladybug about these nightmares. He’d wanted to, several times. Both as Adrien and Chat Noir. Every time he tried, though, the words caught in his throat and he swore he could hear a snide voice whisper, _Cat got your tongue?_

He hadn’t got more than five hours of sleep in the last three days.

~

“Dude, you look terrible,” Nino commented as soon as he walked into the classroom.

“Thanks, bud,” Adrien yawned.

“I’m serious,” Nino said as he unloaded his bag onto his desk. “You look like you haven’t slept since the revolution in 1789.”

“I know,” Adrien sighed. “I went to see a movie with Mari this weekend and I can’t even remember what it was. When she finally managed to wake me up, the movie was over and the theatre was almost empty.”

~

“Adrien, don’t lie to me.”

“I’m feline fine, princess. I swear.”

“If you were fine, you wouldn’t look like you’re dead on your feet. When was the last time you slept properly?”

“Maybe I’d sleep better if you came over and snuggled up with me, huh, bedbug?”

“Please stop winking at me.”

~

The door opened again and Alya and Marinette entered.

“Morning, nerds,” Alya said cheerfully and grabbed Nino’s hat off of his head.

“Alya, c’mon!” Nino complained as he flailed after her.

“It looks cuter on me, though,” she said, putting it on.

“You’re always cute, though,” he shot back. “I, on the other hand, have hat hair, so I _need_ that!”

“Good morning, Adrien,” Marinette said with a sweet smile. She put a big bag from the bakery on his desk.

Adrien tore his attention away from his friends’ quarrel to give Marinette his best cheshire grin. He slid out of his seat and around his desk and gave her a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek.

“It’s been too long, princess,” he sighed dramatically.

“Down, kitty,” she laughed and shoved him away playfully. “You just saw me yesterday.”

“Too long,” he insisted. “But your absence has only made my heart grow fonder.”

He caught her in his arms again and showered little kisses on her face while she giggled.

“You’re both really gross,” Nino commented, putting his hat on with one hand and trying to fend off Alya with the other.

“Adrien, _get off_ , or I won’t give you your present,” Marinette said and wriggled free from his grasp.

“You got me a present?” Adrien asked. “Is it my birthday?”

“Yes, next week Wednesday, actually,” she said. “You’ll be on a trip by then, so I figured I should just give you your present now.”

The door opened and more students filtered in as Adrien recalled the disappointment he had felt when Nathalie had informed him that he’d be spending his birthday in Italy, away from all his friends. He shoved the memory to the back of his mind, and approached the bag that his princess had put on his desk.

There was a brightly colored box inside, and he pulled it out eagerly and removed the lid. He blinked at the contents for a second. It looked like it was full of soft-looking red material with black spots. He lifted the garment out of the box and unfolded it.

“Oh my God,” he breathed. He was holding a Ladybug onesie. He did not doubt for a second that Marinette had made it herself. He looked at her with shining eyes. “Please tell me that you made yourself a matching one.”

She blushed, then stammered, “Th-that’s not the only thing in the box.”

He turned back to the box and saw more red with black spots. He pulled the next item out: an adorable huggable plush of an actual ladybug. He clutched the gifts to chest and peered into the box. It was now empty, except for a small piece of paper folded in half at the bottom. He picked it up and opened it: “Thought these might help you sleep better. Don’t miss me too much on your trip! Try to enjoy yourself a little! xoxo, Marinette.”

He pulled hugged her again and put another kiss on her nose. “You’re an angel, Marinette.”

“Mari, what have you _done_ ,” Nino groaned. He had been the one to tell her what a huge Ladybug fanboy Adrien was. Alya snatched his hat again while he was distracted.

Adrien released her and put the items back in the box. “I got you a gift, too,” he said.

“Oh?” she replied. “What’s the occasion?”

He turned back to her to watch her reaction. He put on an airy, unconcerned tone and said, “Oh, I just heard there was gonna be a bit of a meet-up for some of the biggest names in fashion over at the palace when I get back. You like fashion, right?”

The color drained from her face. “You didn’t—”

“I heard your favorite model will be there,” he continued, holding up an arm and flexing. “I also heard that he can bring a date, if he chooses. I personally think he should bring the baker’s daughter with him. I heard that she’s an incredible aspiring designer.”

She squealed and did the excited butt wiggle thing that he adored.

There was an annoyed huff behind Adrien, and he glanced over to see Chloé muttering conspiratorially with Sabrina at their shared desk. He hadn’t even noticed when the pair had entered the classroom. Sabrina’s eyes darted to his momentarily, and a sense of unease settled in his stomach.

~

School finally ended that day, and Adrien could not recall ever being as worried as he was right now. Marinette hadn’t come back to school after lunch break, and every time he chanced a glance to his right, Sabrina had smiled at him grimly and Chloé had blown him a kiss. Alya had gotten her phone taken away during class because she had been texting Marinette at every opportunity, trying to find out what was wrong. She never got a reply. Adrien’s phone was taken next.

He, Nino, and Alya packed their books at the speed of light, grabbed the two phones off their teacher’s desk, and rushed out of the classroom before most of their classmates had even gotten out of their seats. They went down the stairs as fast as they could and strode purposefully across the courtyard. They marched out of the front doors of the school and halted suddenly.

Adrien’s car was parked in the street. The Gorilla stood outside of it, holding a door open. Adrien checked his phone and groaned.

“I have to go home immediately,” he reported.

Nino clapped a sympathetic hand on Adrien’s shoulder. “We’ll keep you posted, dude.”

He nodded resignedly, and Alya grabbed Nino’s arm and dragged him down to the street and away in the direction of the bakery. He followed them to the street reluctantly and climbed in the back of the car.

~

Alya and Nino strode into the bakery, lungs burning from the hard pace they’d set to get there so quickly. Tom and Sabine were working behind the counter. Tom was speaking with a customer, so the teens approached Sabine.

“Is Marinette here?” Alya asked breathlessly.

“Hi, Mrs. Cheng,” Nino added.

“Yes,” said Sabine, beckoning them around the counter. “She’s up in her room, go right ahead.”

They thanked her and ran up the stairs two at a time. When they finally climbed up through the trapdoor to Marinette’s room, they were breathing heavily. Alya scanned the room. She didn’t see Marinette anywhere.

“Marinette?” she called.

“Up here,” responded a voice from the top of the ladder.

She and Nino headed for the ladder and climbed up to Marinette’s bed. Marinette was sitting upright on the bed, looking alarmingly calm.

“I got a call from Adrien’s dad’s assistant, Nathalie,” Marinette said to their unspoken question. “Chloé told her dad not to allow the Agrestes to attend the event in the palace unless she got to be Adrien’s date.”

“Are you serious?” Nino exclaimed. “ _Gabriel_ _Agreste_ caved to Chloé?”

“Why weren’t you answering any of our texts?” Alya demanded.

“I turned my phone off,” Marinette said. “Besides, if I texted back, you probably would’ve started a fight with Chloé and gotten yourself suspended.”

“And who says I’m not gonna do that now?” Alya fumed.

~

If Adrien hadn’t been raised the way he was, he might’ve slammed the bedroom door behind him. Instead, he closed it with practiced control. He held the knob a little longer than what was strictly necessary, and when he let go, his hand was shaking. 

His father had wanted him home immediately to inform him that Chloé Bourgeois would be his date at the event at the palace, and that was that. No arguments. He was dismissed.

He turned away from the door and stumbled into his room, headed for the bed. He slid his bag off his shoulder and it fell sadly to the floor.

Plagg zoomed out immediately, rubbing his paws together nervously.

“Adrien?” he said with rare concern in his voice. “You alright?” He flew a little closer as Adrien picked up the new ladybug plush from its place on his bed.

“I-it’s not the end of the world, okay?” Plagg said.

Adrien turned away from the bed and sank to his knees on the floor. “I don’t… feel so good, Plagg…” he said softly. The ladybug plush trembled in his grasp.

“You just need a nap, kid,” Plagg said with false cheer. “Or a block of cheese. C’mon, it’s just Chloé! Snap out of it, Adrien, before you call a whole flock of akumas here—”

“I…I can’t help it…” Adrien said. Plagg noticed the red tinge of the dark circles under Adrien’s eyes. “There’s too much…of him…in me…”

Faint tendrils of dark energy swirled lazily around his whitened knuckles, despite the lack of an actual akuma. They both knew it was only a matter of time, though.

“Adrien?” Plagg said. “You hang in there just a few more minutes, okay? I’ll go get Ladybug.”

Plagg darted over to the windows. One of them was open and he sped off in search of the bakery. Only moments later, an akuma fluttered in through that same window.

~

Marinette, Nino, and Alya were still sitting on Marinette’s bed trying to figure out what to do about Chloé when Plagg snuck in through the window. Speaking directly to Marinette was clearly out of the question with her friends there, so he scanned the room for an alternative solution. He spotted it. The purse on her desk. He made a beeline through it and phased right through the material, crashing into the kwami that hid within.

“Ow!” Tikki exclaimed.

“Tikki, we have an emergency,” Plagg whispered.

“Plagg, what—”

“We need Ladybug right now,” Plagg said, grabbing her by the shoulders. “Another akuma is about to land on Adrien, if it hasn’t already—”

“ _Another?_ ” she repeated. “It can happen more than once? It’s not because of the Chloé thing, is it?”

“Not exactly,” he said. “I think Chloé pushed him over the edge, though—This is the fourth time the akuma thing is happening to him, and he’s sleep deprived, and—”

“ _Fourth?!_ ” she yelped. “He told Marinette it only happened that one time! How has he been getting rid of them?”

“Luck?” Plagg guessed. “Chat Noir can’t purify akumas. Ladybug didn’t purify the last one in time, either, so it fell apart like the others—he said there’s too much of Papillon in him—he’s losing control, Tikki, there’s no time, we need Ladybug—”

“We can’t,” Tikki whispered back. “Nino and Alya are here, we need to distract them somehow, or—”

Plagg hissed suddenly and went completely rigid. His ears flattened against his head, and his pupils went wide.

“Plagg?” Tikki squeaked in panic.

Her plan was decided a heartbeat later. She phased out of the purse and shot straight to where Marinette was. Alya and Nino froze and stared.

“I’m so sorry to interrupt,” Tikki said with a hurried curtsy, “but Marinette has to leave right now.”

“Tikki?” Marinette choked.

“Chat’s in trouble,” the kwami said.

~

**You’re still resisting. I’m impressed.**

Adrien no longer shook. He was as still as a statue, kneeling and staring straight ahead with unseeing eyes. He could hardly feel anything aside from his nails digging in to his palms through the material of the ladybug plush.

**Give up,** Papillon advised. **Even if you escape me this time, a part of me will stay with you. It just a matter of time before you and Ladybug’s Miraculous are mine.**

The muscles in Adrien’s arms bulged, and his arms started to move away from one another.

**Careful,** Papillon advised. **Marinette stayed up all night making you that toy. Do you really want to destroy a gift from Ladybug? Don’t you want her to go to the palace with you?**

With supreme effort, Adrien pulled the ladybug in two directions. He felt one thread break…then another…and another…and the ladybug started to tear in half.

Adrien felt like he was tearing himself apart rather than the ladybug, but he kept on going. There was no way he was gonna let Chloé be his breaking point.

**So be it.**

The ladybug tore in two with an explosion of cotton stuffing. The butterfly within was as black as when it had entered the room. It fell gently to the floor and disintegrated, and a fresh wave of exhaustion washed over Adrien. He swayed and fell forwards onto the floor. Several seconds later, he heard the rustle of expensive clothing as someone else in the room knelt down beside him. The unknown person’s hand touched his, and they pried his ring off. There was more rustling as they stood.

“Nathalie,” said the person. “Change of plans.” Adrien knew that voice. That cold, dead voice.

“Sir?” Nathalie said. Her voice shook.

“We left on our trip early,” said the first voice. “We got an earlier flight and left today instead of waiting until Thursday. Notify the school.”

“Of course, sir.”

~

When Ladybug had arrived at Agreste mansion, she’d gone to the windows of Adrien’s room and peered in. He was nowhere to be seen. His bag lay exactly where he left it, and the ladybug she’d worked so hard on last night was in pieces on the floor. She checked her purse and found Plagg had passed out on the way there.

She slipped in through the open window and wandered the mansion. It was impossibly huge. She checked every room and closet and didn’t find a single living soul. The house was deserted.

She spent the next few hours searching Paris. The light of day was mostly gone by the time she landed back on her own roof. She detransformed and went down into her room to find her parents and her best friends sitting in a circle on her floor with mugs of hot chocolate.

She froze. Had her parents come upstairs to check on her and only found Nino and Alya? What did they tell them?

Her dad spotted her first, and stood quickly. The others followed suit. Marinette stood like a deer in the headlights.

“You didn’t find him, did you?” Nino asked, breaking the silence.

Marinette swallowed and shook her head.

“How’s Plagg?” her dad asked.

“He’s out cold,” Marinette said, and went down the ladder and opened her purse.

“I’ll get the camembert,” her mom muttered and hurried down the stairs.

Marinette stared after her, then looked at her dad again. She could understand if Nino and Alya had told her parents that she’d suddenly transformed into Ladybug and left, but there was no way they could’ve explained Plagg.

“Your parents explained everything to us,” Alya said.

“They…they what?” Marinette said blankly.

“They told us about you being Ladybug,” Nino offered, “and Adrien being Chat, and a little bit about that time he showed up in the middle of the night and trashed the kitchen.”

“What?” repeated Marinette.

Her dad sighed and offered her the rest of his hot chocolate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who comments and I'm sorry I'm awful at replying! I read each of them like 5 times a day, though. My goal for the next chapter is not to rush when I'm writing it, and to reread it and edit at least twice before posting it, so it might take a while. Go read tons of better stories while you wait. Thanks for stopping by!


	5. Birthday Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien is alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The good news: I finally finished this chapter.  
> The bad news: The next chapter is the big one, and it's gonna take a hecka long time. I also have school stuff that I've been procrastinating on, so I'll have to do that first.
> 
> If you see something in here that looks a bit wonky, let me know.
> 
> I think I might've actually done pretty well on this chapter. See you at the other end of it.

Alya and Nino hadn’t wanted to leave, so they’d called their parents and gotten permission to sleep over. Alya and Marinette decided to share the bed and Tom and Sabine found some extra blankets and pillows for Nino. Tikki put herself in charge of caring for Plagg until he woke up. She made him a little bed for him on the desk out of yarn borrowed from Marinette.

The three teens stayed up for several hours, sitting on Marinette’s bed. There was a lot to discuss. They started with easy topics first, like Nino and Alya’s chagrin at not recognizing their best friends in superhero outfits, and Marinette’s embarrassment at her parents knowing her biggest secret for the better part of a year. Then, of course, the trio talked about Mari and Adrien’s relationship.

“This actually explains a lot,” Alya commented.

“A lot?” Marinette asked. “About what?”

“For one thing,” Nino started, “it explains how Adrien was able to ‘get over’ his crush on Ladybug—which he’s had for about as long as I’ve known him—and start dating you in just a week.”

“It also explains,” Alya added, “how Ladybug and Chat Noir became an item on that very same day.”

“How stoked were you guys when you figured it out?” Nino asked eagerly.

“How _did_ you guys find out?” said Alya, then added quickly, “I swear I won’t put it on the Ladyblog.”

Marinette looked down at the desk, where Tikki was humming a sweet melody to Plagg and petting him affectionately as he snored. She didn’t speak immediately.

“He found out first,” she finally said. “When he started coming over more often, I guess…I guess he started to recognize who I was. That week that you guys are talking about, he—he came over every day. He kept getting flustered, he accidentally called me ‘my lady’ a couple of times—I think I was starting to suspect him, but I refused to even consider the possibility…and during patrol, Chat was different, too, he was more…reserved? He seemed…unsure of himself, and lost—

“He told me it was something in his civilian life, so I didn’t push it. I mean, I was the one who insisted that we keep it a secret, and he—it was…

“Then we were playing video games and we won, like we always do, ‘cuz we’re a team, right? Ladybug and Chat Noir, the best crime-fighting team that Paris has ever seen! We fist bump after every victory, so we fist bumped, and he looked at me the way Chat looks at me, and I…it just…clicked, and I-I didn’t know what to do. I had no idea that he knew who I was.

“We just…stared. I was overwhelmed, because it made sense, you know? It made sense, and I couldn’t…I didn’t accept it at first. A-and then he said ‘You’re Ladybug,’ and I told him I wasn’t because if he recognized me, that must mean he really was Chat, and it meant that I _knew_ him, and he knew me, all of me, and he knew that I was just plain old Marinette—”

At this, Alya scoffed. Nino shushed her before she could go into a long, detailed rant about why Marinette was anything but plain. The lecture could wait. The story was more important.

“He started apologizing,” Marinette recalled. “He said he was sorry, and that he wished he could be someone else, and I realized he was scared that _I_ wouldn’t accept _him_ —and he looked _terrified_ —I was in love with him and he was afraid of me, and I wanted to tell him that it was gonna be okay, that I just needed a moment to process. He transformed, and ran away—

“I transformed, and followed him…He was running like his life depended on it, and I was so worried, and we were by the Seine, and cats _hate_ water, and he slipped—” Nino and Alya gasped, “—he started falling off the roof, and my heart stopped—I pulled out my yo-yo and swung down and slammed into him right before he hit the water, and we hit the shore, and he pulled out one of my pigtails and I blacked out for a minute.

“When I came to, an akuma had landed on my hair tie—he was holding it—and he was hissing and spitting and rolling around like he was wrestling with a demon, so I got up, and took the hair tie and broke it, and he stopped moving—but the akuma flew out and fell on the ground, rolling around like he’d been doing, but it wasn’t completely black like akumas usually are, and it just…fell apart before I could purify it.

“I didn’t think about it, because Chat wasn’t moving, he wasn’t waking up…I transformed back to Marinette and went and put his head on my lap and begged him to wake up.”

Marinette paused and took a good look at her friends. They both stared at her, rapt, mugs of hot chocolate trembling slightly in their grasps.

“Well obviously, he woke up,” Marinette assured them.

They both relaxed visibly.

“Obviously,” said Nino with relief. Alya giggled nervously.

Marinette smiled at them, then the expression faded. “He was still apologizing,” she said. “He opened his eyes and whispered, ‘I’m sorry, Bugaboo,’ and I—” she gulped.

“I…kissed…him…” Her face was bright red.

Marinette and Alya were startled when Nino sniffled. He hastily wiped his face on his arm and mumbled, “Shut up and let me be emotional.”

Alya drew him close and planted a kiss on his cheek while Marinette giggled.

“What happened next?” Alya prompted.

“We talked,” Marinette said simply. “You wouldn’t believe how smug he was when I admitted I’d had a crush on him since the dawn of time.”

She looked back at Tikki and Plagg. Tikki was now snuggled up with Plagg. Marinette frowned.

“He never told me it happened before,” she said to herself. “But it did—he was the ‘cat burglar’ that my parents told me wrecked the kitchen, and Plagg told Tikki that it happened once before that. He said he didn’t remember running from my room. We guessed that the reason the akuma had been so odd was because he had Plagg, so he’d been able to resist letting it take over.”

“He doesn’t have Plagg now,” Alya whispered in horror. “He might be akumatized right now!”

The trapdoor on the floor creaked open, and Tom stuck his head in the room.

“Bedtime, kids,” he called to them. “You have school in the morning.”

Reluctantly, the conversation came to a halt. It was nearly two in the morning when they all drifted into uneasy sleep.

It was nearly four when Plagg got up groggily and dragged himself from Tikki’s embrace over to the block of cheese Sabine had thoughtfully left for him on the desk.

~

It was nearly four in the morning when Adrien came to his senses. He was in an unfamiliar bed. Wherever he was, it smelled…old. Kind of stagnant, kind of musty. There was a dim light somewhere in the room. He sat up very slowly, pushing through the feeling that the room was spinning.

“Adrien,” said a voice softly from his right.

He looked in that direction and saw… _Father?_

The light in the room was coming from Gabriel Agreste’s computer monitor. He was sitting at a desk. Was it just the weird lighting, or did his frown look more…worried than disapproving?

“You need your rest,” he said sternly.

Adrien stared uncomprehendingly. Gabriel sighed and stood up. He picked a small bottle and spoon up off his desk, and walked over to his son. He poured a little of the contents of the bottle into the spoon and set the bottle down on the little table beside the bed.

“It’s sleep medicine,” he explained, and sat on the bed beside Adrien. He put the spoon to Adrien’s lips and put a gentle hand under his chin to catch any spill. “Drink.”

Adrien did as he was told, and then Gabriel helped him lay back down and covered him with the blanket again.

_Papa?_ thought Adrien hazily.

~

Marinette awoke to the sound of her alarm.

“Turn it off,” moaned Alya beside her while Nino snored somewhere below.

“Rise and shine, kiddos!” cackled Plagg, zooming over the bed and snatching Marinette’s phone away before she could shut the sound off.

“Plagg!” Marinette exclaimed, and sat up.

“Turn it off!” Tikki wailed, chasing him.

He paused to stick his tongue out at her, and she caught up and tackled him. He dropped the phone and it fell heavily on Nino’s stomach, whose snore changed to a snort. He sat up quickly and turned off the alarm with a yawn.

The trapdoor opened and Sabine popped her head in. “Breakfast is ready!” she said cheerfully.

~

At lunch break, the trio decided to walk over to the park with the lunch Mari’s parents had packed, and discuss things further. They found a bench to sit at and pulled the food out. Plagg and Tikki emerged from Marinette’s bag to feast on cookies and cheese.

“I heard Chloé tell Sabrina that the principal told her father that the Agrestes decided to go on their trip early,” Alya began.

“They must’ve left in a hurry,” Marinette said darkly. “It took me hardly any time at all to get to the mansion last night, and it was completely empty.”

“Do you think his dad found him?” Nino speculated. “While he was akumatized?”

The group fell silent, considering.

“Adrien is still in Paris,” Plagg said, swallowing a mouthful of cheese.

“How do you know?” Marinette asked.

“I can sense his miraculous,” he said, opening his mouth for another bite.

“What?!” Marinette exclaimed and jumped to her feet. “You know where he is? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because I don’t know where he is,” said Plagg defensively. “I just know that he’s in Paris. It’s pretty far from the school.”

“We can’t go after him now, Marinette,” Tikki put in. “We won’t be able to track him down before lunch break ends. Wait until school is over.”

~

As soon as school ended, Marinette bolted out of the classroom and found somewhere secluded to transform. Alya and Nino had assured her that they would take care of her homework for her while she searched for Adrien. Ladybug leaped up to the roof of the school. Then she realized something was missing.

“Where’s Plagg?” she asked out loud.

_In here,_ whined a voice in her head. _I’m in the same place as your purse and clothes. Tikki pulled me into the transformation._

_What was I supposed to do?_ squeaked Tikki indignantly. _Have you hold on to her hair? Put you in a fanny pack?_

“Plagg,” said Ladybug, cutting off the argument, “where’s Adrien?”

There was a long pause, then he answered, _East._

It took several minutes to reach their destination: a roof overlooking the Louvre Art Museum.

_Yep,_ said Plagg. _It’s definitely in there._

Ladybug eyed the tourists that milled in front of the pyramid. She saw one little girl turn and look up at her. The little girl’s jaw dropped. Ladybug smiled cheerfully and waved. The girl waved back excitedly, and her mother turned to see who she was waving at. Spotting the spotted superhero, she started taking pictures with her phone. Ladybug’s smile faltered as soon the entire crowd was turning to her.

_I won’t be able to do anything if I go down there,_ she realized. _I’ll be stopped every five seconds to take pictures. If Ladybug goes down there, she’ll just become another exhibit._

_Marinette will have to go instead._

She stood up and smiled again. She waved the crowd goodbye, then pulled out her yo-yo. She threw it to a nearby chimney stack, and swung away from the scene to “Ooh”ing and “Ahh”ing and general applause. She dropped into a secluded alleyway a few blocks away and transformed.

~

Several hours later, a very worried and frustrated Marinette left exited the Louvre. She hadn’t found Adrien anywhere, and Plagg had been in her purse, so he couldn’t direct her without security guards giving her weird looks for talking to her purse. She hurried away from the pyramid and found an empty alleyway. She opened her purse, and Tikki and Plagg emerged.

“Is he still in there?” Marinette asked urgently.

“I’m not sure,” said Plagg. “When we were in there, I could sense him, and he was in one of those staff-only places. He hasn’t moved an inch all day.”

“What?!” squealed Marinette. “He hasn’t moved? Is he okay?!”

“He’s fine, Marinette,” Tikki assured her. “A kwami can sense when their charge is hurt.”

“And I am not picking up any ‘hurt’ vibes,” said Plagg.

“We know where he is now,” Tikki said. “We can discuss it with your friends and family and figure out a way to get into the staff-only zone. Besides, it’s pretty late in the evening, and you still have to patrol later. If we don’t go back soon, they’ll all be worried sick.”

“Right,” said Marinette as Plagg returned to the purse. “Tikki, transform me!”

~

It was midnight, and Marinette couldn’t sleep. Plagg and Tikki were cuddled together in their own little spot on the bed, snoring soundly. Marinette supposed that if they were confident enough in Adrien’s safety to sleep, she should be, too.

The plan to get him back was simple enough. Her parents volunteered to call the school in the morning to say she was sick and would be missing class. Nino and Alya said they were willing to do all of her schoolwork for as long as it took her to find him. Tomorrow morning, she’d visit the Louvre again as Ladybug, and ask to investigate behind the scenes of the museum. Plagg would tell her where to go from within her transformation, and they’d find him in no time.

~

_Through those doors_ , said Plagg.

Ladybug nodded at the set of double doors marked “Staff Only.”

“What’s behind those doors?” she asked the museum guard who was guiding her.

“Just the staff lounge room,” he yawned. “Nothing special.”

“May I see it?”

“Sure,” he held back another yawn and opened the door for her. The room inside was dark, so he muttered an apology and fumbled at the wall until the lights came on with a click.

Ladybug stepped cautiously inside and surveyed the room. There were benches and tables on one side of the lounge, a couple of couches at the other end of the room, and doors to staff restrooms. Nobody was in the room this early in the morning as far as she could see.

_He’s in here,_ said Plagg, sounding confused. _He’s…behind the couch?_

Ladybug strode purposefully to the couches and scooted one away from the wall.

_Oh,_ said Plagg.

Ladybug knelt down and picked a glinting object off of the floor. A very familiar looking ring.

“Oh,” she repeated.

~

“Father,” said Adrien, standing stiffly in front of his desk.

Gabriel Agreste didn’t glance up from his computer to his son. He gave no sign of hearing him, other than to pause his typing to take a sip from the mug of black coffee he had at his desk.

“You took my ring,” Adrien said when the man put the mug down.

“Yes,” replied Gabriel shortly.

Adrien stood there silently to give him a chance to explain…anything. Where the ring was, where they were, how long they’d been there, anything. But he just kept typing and clicking away.

When the man paused a full minute later to take another sip of coffee, Adrien realized that he might have set his hopes too high.

“Could I have it back?” Adrien asked.

“Have what?” Gabriel asked absently.

“My ring.”

The fingers paused on the keyboard and his father finally looked at him.

“No.” Icy blue eyes stared into lively green. “I got rid of it. I don’t even know where it is. Your superhero days are done. Once I tie up all of our affairs in this city, we’re leaving France. Until then, you will remain down here. For all our sakes.”

_Down here?_ Adrien’s thoughts echoed. _We must be in some kind of underground apartment. Maybe a renovated basement. And ‘in this city’ must mean we’re still in Paris._

_I need to get out of here. Paris needs me. Ladybug needs me. I can’t leave her to fight akumas on her own._

“I’m leaving you here tomorrow,” said his father, interrupting his thoughts. “There’s plenty of food to last you weeks, if necessary. There are certain matters that I am required to attend in person.”

“You’re gonna leave me alone for weeks?” Adrien said blankly.

“No.” He resumed his typing. “If all goes well, it shouldn’t take longer than a day.”

_A day is all I need to escape,_ Adrien thought.

~

When Adrien awoke the next morning, his father was gone. He had no phone or computer to keep him distracted. He supposed his father didn’t want him contacting anyone and interfering with whatever “affairs” he was tying up. The day was spent trying to get past the locked door at the top of the stairs. It was the only locked door, and had to be the exit. He tried picking the lock, breaking it open, carving through the door with a knife—none of it worked. Gabriel Agreste did not return.

The next day, Friday, he got up from where he’d fallen asleep on the stairs, grabbed something to eat from the kitchen and tried the door again. It still didn’t budge, so he went to the main room and turned on the TV to the news. He dozed off and awoke hours later from a nightmare where he transformed into Papillon and Ladybug attacked him. Gabriel Agreste did not return.

On Saturday, he stared at the door. He talked to it, yelled at it, attempted to summon Cataclysm, and tried to guess a secret password. After a while, he gave up and ransacked the apartment, searching for spare keys. He hardly ate anything that day. Gabriel Agreste did not return.

On Sunday, he watched live coverage of Ladybug fighting an akuma on her own. It took her hours longer than it usually took the both of them. He watched the entire thing from start to finish, telling the girl on the screen cat puns and trying to cheer her up. She wasn’t fighting with her usual gusto, and seemed unsure of herself. He screamed when the akuma threw her off of the Eiffel Tower. He cheered when she used her yo-yo to bounce right back up and defeat them. Then she was gone, and he was alone again. He sat on the stairs and stared at the door all night. Gabriel Agreste did not return.

On Monday, sleep deprivation caught up to him. He slept for sixteen hours and awoke in cold sweat on the floor before the stairs. He had a nightmare where he was Papillon and he attacked Ladybug. He ignored his growling stomach, although there was plenty of food in the kitchen, and instead ransacked the place for the key again. Gabriel Agreste did not return.

~

On Tuesday evening, Ladybug had another close call with an akuma. News reporters found her after the battle was won, and bombarded her with questions about him.

“Ladybug, there are rumors that Chat Noir is missing. Your comments?”

“Has Chat Noir been captured by Papillon?”

“How come he hasn’t been spotted in almost a week?”

“Did you two have a falling out?”

“How much more difficult is it to fight akumas without your partner?”

“Leave her _alone_!” Adrien shouted, clutching the TV screen.

“I don’t know where he is!” Ladybug snapped at the reporters. They all hushed to listen to her.

“I don’t know where he is,” she repeated waveringly. The camera zoomed in on her face. Her eyes swam with unshed tears.

“My lady, please don’t cry,” Adrien whispered.

“Chat?” she said, and stared right at the camera. Adrien’s heart thumped loudly. “Wherever you are, just hang in there, okay? If you can see this, or hear this—”

“Marinette,” Adrien intoned. “Marinette, please. I’m alright. I’m okay. Marinette. Marinette?”

“We’re doing all we can, kitty,” she said while he whispered her name like a prayer. “I’ll find you, and I’ll never let this happen again.”

Suddenly, Ladybug’s head whipped around. The news reporters started muttering among themselves. Something about somebody screaming in the distance.

“Another akuma,” Ladybug said to herself. The determined twinkle in her eye that Adrien loved was absent.

She sped off into the night and the news reporters started hustling to follow her and broadcast the new akuma fight live.

Adrien yelled at her to turn back around and go home. There was no way she’d be able to hold her own against another akuma so soon.

In a rush of adrenaline, he grabbed the TV from the main room and brought it to the room with the stairs and the door, intending to use it as a battering ram. It didn’t end well. The TV was too large and unwieldy, and he lost his balance at the top of the stairs. The tumble back down wasn’t enough to knock him out, but then the TV came down after him and hit him in the head.

~

On Wednesday, Adrien woke up sprawled on the floor. His head throbbed, and he carefully raised a hand to feel it. There was a hard lump on his temple where the TV had hit him, but other than that and the fact that his left leg was asleep, he seemed unharmed.

He sat up slowly and looked up at the door. It looked the same, except for a small spot where the paint was chipped. It was the spot he had hit with the TV before his fall.

“I’ll never get out,” he realized out loud.

Despair hit him like a tidal wave, and he heaved a dry sob. The floodgates broke, and emotions and thoughts that he’d been subconsciously repressing all week suddenly broke through. _I’ll be stuck here forever._ He cried in a way he hadn’t done since the day he figured out that his mother was never coming home. _My father will never come back either._ He bawled and wailed and convulsed, and saw the TV lying on the floor a foot away. The screen was cracked in a spiderweb pattern centering on where it hit his head. _Now I have no way of seeing Marinette again._ Nobody had moved it while he was out. Nobody had moved him either. That meant that Gabriel Agreste still hadn’t returned. He’d left his son by himself for a week.

**And you still haven’t escaped,** the door taunted.

Adrien turned back to it. It had changed again. The door handle now glowed with black and purple with tendrils of Papillon’s magic.

**There’s only one way out of here,** the door called. Adrien could hear Papillon’s voice in his head, despite being several feet away from the waiting akuma. **Just touch the handle. I’ll do the rest.**

~

Marinette had returned to school the day after finding Chat Noir’s ring, but had been too exhausted by Sunday’s fight to go back to school afterwards. She lay in bed, her muscles in agony from the two fights the previous day. Plagg floated aimlessly through her room. He’d been out of sorts since the moment they’d found the ring. The room itself was dark. The lights were off and the window shutters were closed. Marinette’s computer was open on the Ladyblog. Thousands of comments were on the most recent post, which Alya had made to address some of the questions Ladybug and Chat Noir fans had about where he’d gone. Tikki sat on Marinette’s desk, nibbling quietly at a giant cookie that Sabine had put there for her. The block of camembert beside her looked untouched.

“Mari?” Alya’s voice floated up through the trapdoor as she and Nino emerged. “It’s lunch break, so we came to check up on you. Are you in here, Mari?”

“Up here,” Marinette groaned.

“It’s too dark in here,” Alya muttered.

She and Nino opened up the window before climbing up to sit on Marinette’s bed. Nino bounced his legs nervously.

“A-are we any closer to finding him?” he asked.

Marinette’s silence was answer enough. Nino took his headphones off from their usual spot around his neck, then took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair.

“You know, last year, I made him a promise,” Nino said. “I promised that he’d have the best birthday of his life this year, since I screwed it up last year by getting myself akumatized.”

“Nino,” said Alya softly. “That wasn’t your fault.”

“I know,” he said. “It was his dad’s. It’s his dad’s fault again today, exactly one year later, that I can’t keep my promise.”

“He should be here with us,” Marinette said quietly. “With his real family.”

They sat in mournful silence. Tikki gnawed at her cookie. Plagg drifted over to the windowsill and settled there with a sigh, staring out at Paris.

Suddenly, he felt an awful sensation that made him yowl and flatten his ears against his head. Everyone jumped at the sudden sound. He spun quickly to them, his pupils blown wide.

“ _He’s near_ ,” he hissed.

~

Adrien crashed drunkenly out of the front door of the old-looking house he’d been trapped in the basement of. A calico cat who had been sunbathing on a nearby roof jumped at the sudden noise.

**Hold…still!** Papillon’s voice strained with effort. **Do… as I command…**

Adrien fought through the dark haze that clouded his vision. Papillon’s magic crackled around him, but couldn’t completely envelop him. He had grasped the infected door handle of his own free will, and staggered Papillon with the sheer force of his will to be free.

**Stop it!** Papillon shouted, stabbing into his mind. **Stop struggling!**

~

Ladybug tore through the street with Nino and Alya in hot pursuit, startling many passersby. Plagg raced out in front of them, his determination to reunite with his Chat Noir driving him at a pace that had Marinette’s exhausted muscles screaming. He shot upwards suddenly into the sky. Ladybug didn’t miss a beat.

“Nino, Alya, hold on to each other!” she commanded, rounding on them.

They skidded to a halt and did as she told them, and she wrapped one arm around them and used the other to throw her yo-yo up to catch on something on a nearby roof. She leapt after it with inhuman strength, and her friends screamed and held each other tighter as they were all suddenly airborne.

They landed heavily on the roof and the two terrified teens tumbled out of her grasp.

Plagg was at the other end of the roof, perched on the edge, and hissing at whatever was below. Ladybug raced up beside him and looked below.

Adrien was stumbling around an empty alleyway with his hands pressed on his ears. He was rapidly getting nowhere and crashing into everything in sight. Papillon’s symbol was distorted in front of his face, and parts of it kept breaking. He was evidently fighting Papillon with everything he had. He lurched in one direction, then swung around the other way, and Ladybug saw what looked like a door handle with a chunk of the wooden door it came from clutched in his right hand.

She acted on instinct and dove off of the roof and right into him. The handle skidded away, and she got right back up and whipped at it with the yo-yo, breaking it.

A black butterfly flew out, and she caught it in the yo-yo.

“Bye-bye, pretty butterfly!” she sang as she released the purified akuma.

There was a groan behind her, and she spun back around and rushed to Adrien’s side. His eyes were closed, his breathing heavy, and he had a bruised lump on his temple. She carefully picked him up off of the ground. It was time to bring him home.

~

Adrien awoke on what felt like a bed of clouds. He felt relaxed and content, like he’d just had the best sleep of his life. He inhaled deeply and smelled cookies.

_I died, didn’t I?_ he thought. _I’m in heaven now._

“Adrien?” said a sweet voice.

He peeked out from under his eyelids carefully. He saw his favorite pair of blue eyes was hovering above his face.

“G’mornin, Princess,” he mumbled.

He heard a sharp intake of breath, then excited whispering, and then footsteps quickly leading away and down to the floor below. He opened his eyes more, curious, and saw Marinette, Tom, Sabine, and Alya standing around his bed.

“Heyy, guys,” he slurred happily.

Their worried frowns all broke into relieved grins. Their happiness fueled him enough to try sitting up. Tom was at his side in a second, helping him. He piled pillows behind Adrien’s back so he could sit well.

“Thank god you’re okay!” Sabine exclaimed, and rushed over to put a gentle kiss on his forehead.

“You kicked butt, Adrien,” Alya said supportively. “You were able to keep Papillon from possessing you again!”

“Guess you could say,” he said weakly, “that I was too much for Papillon…to _handle_. Haha, geddit? _Handle_? Like a door handle?”

Marinette grabbed his left hand with both of hers, fell to her knees, and buried her head in the bed, sobbing. He squeezed her hands reassuringly, and was relieved to feel the familiar pressure of Chat Noir’s ring on his finger.

“I regret ever missing you,” grumbled a voice to his right. He turned that way with an ecstatic grin just in time to see Tikki shove Plagg playfully.

“That’s the worst one you’ve made yet,” said a voice from the doorway behind everyone else.

They parted, and in walked Nino with a cake. Tom picked up a small lap table, unfolded it, and positioned it on the bed. Nino set the cake down on it.

Adrien stared at it with wide eyes. It was two-tiered and a little lopsided, and the icing was uneven.

“Nino, did you make this?” Adrien asked.

“Of course, dude,” Nino replied proudly. “Happy birthday!”

“Thank you!” Adrien exclaimed, then paused. “Wait…It’s my birthday?”

“Stupid cat,” Marinette muttered, lifting her head off of the bed. She showered little kisses on the hand she still gripped.

Sabine started singing “Happy Birthday,” and the rest joined.

_I’m definitely in heaven._

~

Gabriel Agreste stood in a doorway at the top of a staircase. The door itself was in pieces. There was a TV lying broken at the bottom of the steps. He didn’t go further into the basement; he knew Adrien was gone.

_The plan failed,_ he thought. _I’ll have to disappear alone._

He turned around and started walking the way he came from.

_I’ll come back for you, Adrien._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick question: Do you guys think I should go back and change all the "Papillon"s to "Hawkmoth"s? It's starting to bother me. Is it bothering any of you guys, or should I just leave it?  
> Also, would you guys be okay with me splitting the upcoming final part of this story into two chapters? There's a lot that I want to put in there, and I'll be able to update you guys instead of leaving you hanging forever.
> 
> Thank you so much for stopping by to read this <3


	6. What Friends Are For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How's that for a cheesy title?
> 
> For a beautiful moment, Adrien's life is as close to perfect as it can get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so school's out for spring and I've finally been able to write. Sorrysorrysorry this update took so long! There was a bunch of schoolwork I had to do last minute, so I wasn't able to start writing this chapter until a few days ago. I'll do my best to get the rest of the story out a little faster.
> 
> Let me know if there's any typos or incomplete sentences or anything. Enjoy!

Tom and Sabine basically adopted Adrien into their home. They trusted him with Marinette, so he was allowed to sleep in her room as long as he didn’t sleep in her bed and they didn’t stay up talking too late into the night.

He didn’t open up about what had happened with his father until a week later, and after the family talked about it for a while, they decided to let the police know that Gabriel Agreste was missing. The police, in turn, questioned Adrien extensively. He mostly told them the truth of the events that occurred, but made sure to exempt certain details about his deeply personal relationship with Paris’ two famous superheroes. The police tracked down Nathalie and the Gorilla and the various cooks and housekeepers of the Agreste mansion fairly quickly; they had all suddenly been put on paid leave for reasons not explained to them and were taking full advantage of their vacation time. The airline that was supposed to take Gabriel to Italy said that he never boarded. The old house that Adrien had been trapped in turned out to be owned by Gabriel, as were several other establishments that were thoroughly investigated. Nothing produced any leads, and eventually, the police left Adrien alone.

A couple weeks into the whole police business, Tom and Sabine spoke with Mr. Damocles about the situation, and Adrien and Marinette returned to school. Fortunately, none of their classmates were too prying about where they’d been. Alya and Nino made sure of it. Adrien and Marinette caught up in all their classes just in time for the end of the semester.

There were no akuma attacks throughout the whole business, which could hardly be coincidental. They didn’t have time to worry about it, though, what with the police and schoolwork, and the bakery getting busier every day as they went into winter break. Adrien was eager to do everything he could to help the people who had made him part of their home, so the Dupain-Chengs gladly put him to work in the bakery. He learned quickly and worked as seamlessly with them as Chat Noir worked with Ladybug.

The news outlets were all over the sudden cease of akuma activity and the disappearance of Paris’ superheroes. Had Papillon been defeated? Were they being held captive? Alya kept the Ladyblog up and running with these and many other questions, encouraging all sorts of wild theories. She and Nino came over often, and one night during dinner, they decided to bring up the superhero subject.

“You know,” said Alya, swallowing a mouthful of food, “I don’t mind pushing crazy fan theories about the two of you for as long as I have to, but,” she paused to drink some water, “what do you guys think of coming out of hiding?”

Marinette gulped down the food she was only half-done chewing. “Say what?” she asked, trying not to choke.

“We’re _not_ giving up our identities,” Adrien said firmly. “Too many people already know. No offense, ma’am, sir,” he added to the Dupain-Chengs.

“The only offense I take is that you keep referring to us so formally,” Tom remarked.

“Sorry si—uh, not sir, um…” he looked to Marinette for help, but she just shrugged unhelpfully. “Sorry…Dad?”

It was the first thing to pop into his head, and he regretted it as soon as Tom’s expression changed to one of shock. Then, before Adrien could take it back, his face split into a delighted grin and tears gathered in his eyes.

“Dear, don’t cry in the middle of dinner,” Sabine said to the giant man while Nino, Alya, and Mari shook with silent laughter and tried to continue eating.

“I hope this means that I’m Mom instead of ma’am now?” Sabine asked Adrien.

He nodded numbly and Plagg snorted into his cheese. Alya and Marinette broke into a fit of giggles. Nino was the first to regain his composure.

“Alya’s not talking about giving up identities, dude,” Nino said, and the girls sobered. “What she meant was, ‘When are Ladybug and Chat Noir gonna come back and tell the fans where they’ve been?’”

Adrien turned to Marinette. “We never really…”

“…talked about it,” she finished the thought.

“We could all talk about it now,” Tikki said, then raised a cookie in the air above her head. “Team Ladybug!”

“Tikki, you’re the cutest,” Adrien told her.

“Excuse me, _kid_ ,” Plagg huffed. “Flirt with your _own_ Ladybug. This one’s mine.”

“You’re cute, too, Plagg,” Adrien assured him.

“Nino and I _have_ talked about it a little,” Alya said, “and we were thinking that you superheroes could give me a live exclusive interview.”

“That way, we could all prepare together beforehand,” said Nino. “We can work out where and when to have the interview and which questions you dudes would be comfortable answering.”

“Plus we figured you’d like being interviewed by a friend more than by a strange newscaster,” Alya added.

“Won’t the media be all over you though?” Marinette asked her. “They’ll be wanting to know why Ladybug and Chat Noir chose _you_ specifically.”

“I can handle them,” Alya said dismissively. “Or at least my mom can. The first reporter at my door is really gonna be in for it.”

“They’ll learn to fear the Césaire family as much as I do,” Nino said confidently.

Adrien locked eyes with Marinette again. _Should we?_ he asked with a tilt of his head.

She bit her lower lip thoughtfully, then shrugged. _I’m fine with it. Up to you._

“Sounds like a great idea,” he said out loud, smiling at Alya.

~

_ATTENTION LADYBLOGGERS! BREAKING NEWS!!!!1!!_

_LADYBUG AND CHAT NOIR WILL BE GIVING YOURS TRULY AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW TOMORROW NIGHT AT 9PM. BE SURE TO TUNE IN TO THE LIVESTREAM AND SEND ME ALL OF YOUR BURNING QUESTIONS._

_Quick rundown of how this happened: As many of you pointed out, our favorite superheroes were spotted patrolling last night for the first time in almost a month. Tonight, Paris’ rooftops and streets were crawling with reporters. I was one of them. Check out the video below to see them arranging the interview with me. (WARNING: I kinda scream a lot. Adjust your audio accordingly.)_

“That was…professional,” Adrien remarked after he and Marinette finished reading the new pinned post on the Ladyblog. They had gotten back late from patrol exhausted from dodging reporters to find a place to detransform. They were now freshly showered and dressed in their Ladybug and Chat Noir onesies. Marinette was sitting in Adrien’s lap at the computer desk. They didn’t bother watching the video. They had experienced enough of Alya’s screaming firsthand.

“You know she’s gonna yell at us later for carrying her off like that,” Marinette said.

“Would she rather we let her get trampled by a herd of crazy cameramen?”

“She’ll be mad we didn’t warn her beforehand,” Marinette said, then paused. “I take that back, she’s already mad. You saw that look she gave us when she stopped recording.”

“She looked like she was gonna bite our heads off,” Adrien shuddered. “Maybe you shouldn’t have swung us around the top of the Eiffel Tower like that.”

“Well, maybe _you_ shouldn’t have launched into that backflip over the Seine,” she retorted, and shifted around in his lap so she could pout at him.

Adrien laughed and tugged up the hood of her onesie, admiring the beautifully crafted cat ears.

“You know, you make an adorable Chat Noir,” he remarked, then pulled her down with one hand so he could kiss her. She squirmed in his grasp and giggled, so he kept missing her lips and placing kisses all over her face. Plagg made a gagging sound in the background and Tikki shushed him.

“Are you two behaving?” said Tom suddenly from the trapdoor.

Adrien leapt guiltily to his feet and Marinette fell on the floor with a yelp.

Tom was holding open the trapdoor while he and his wife smiled benignly at the teens.

“SorryMomandDad,” Adrien said.

“Maman! Papa! Get out!” Marinette shrieked.

“Go to sleep, dears. We open early tomorrow,” said Sabine sweetly.

~

In a large room lit only by a single lamp on a small coffee table, there were four teens. Ladybug and Chat Noir sat together on a couch with their legs crossed politely and Alya sat in a different chair at the table. Nino sat on a stool behind a camera on a tripod that was pointed at the other three.

“Good evening, Ladybloggers!” exclaimed Alya cheerfully at the camera. “It is now 9:00 pm! I’d love to tell you where we are right now, but I’m afraid that I promised I wouldn’t. Ladybug and Chat Noir requested a private interview and picked Nino and I up from my house to bring us here. I’m Alya, and you’re watching this live interview exclusive on the Ladyblog!

“On behalf of myself and the fans, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity,” Alya said all businesslike.

“Anything _fur_ our biggest fan,” said Chat.

“Weak,” Ladybug teased.

“I know. I’m out of practice.”

“Let’s go ahead and get right into it, shall we?” said Alya, and pulled up the first question on her phone. “Tell me, if you can, how did you two get into the superhero business?”

The interview went smoothly. Alya was a natural at making the superheroes comfortable and keeping up the facade that she didn’t already know the answers for most of the questions. Ladybug and Chat Noir’s normal conversational banter surfaced on its own, and soon enough, they were all laughing and enjoying themselves thoroughly.

“So the fan response so far has been really positive, but they’re pointing out to me that I haven’t asked the biggest qeustions yet,” said Alya. “Do you mind if we get more personal?”

“ _Pur_ sonal questions are what we’re here for,” Chat said.

“We’ll answer as well as we can,” Ladybug added.

“The question on all of Paris’ minds right now is about where you two have been,” Alya said. “Chat Noir, you were absent for three akuma attacks, two of which occurred in the same day. You, Ladybug, were last seen almost in tears on live television, telling Chat to ‘hang in there.’ The most popular theory is that you, Chat, were captured by Papillon, and were later saved by Ladybug. Fans are guessing that the reason you two disappeared and the akuma attacks stopped is that you somehow defeated Papillon. Is this true?”

“That would be fantastic if it were,” Ladybug said. “But no, it turns out the real reason is much tamer than any of that.”

“I take full responsibility for my disappearance. I, uh, kinda went on a trip with my family and didn’t warn Ladybug beforehand,” the practiced lie fell easily off his tongue.

“I was afraid that Papillon had him,” said Ladybug. “I have a tendency to jump to the worst case scenario and think it’s true. When he returned from his trip, he explained where he’d been, and well…”

“She yelled at me,” lied Chat again with a pout.

“You deserved it,” Ladybug retorted.

“I won’t ever worry you like that again, my lady,” Chat said, leaning closer to kiss her on the cheek.

“Down, kitty,” she said fondly, pushing his face away before his lips reached her.

“So do you have any idea why Papillon’s attacks have stopped?” Alya pressed.

“No, but we’ve been taking advantage of the downtime,” Ladybug said. “We’ve been hoping for a vacation for a while. If we’re lucky, Papillon could take the holidays off.”

“Black cats aren’t exactly lucky, though,” Chat added. “If he decides to attack again, we want to be ready, so we started patrolling again.”

“The most requested question by far is ‘Who are you?’” Alya said. “I’m under the impression that you two have some good reasons not to answer that question. Care to explain?”

“It’s the same reasons that any superhero would hide their identity, really,” said Ladybug. “To protect the people close to them, from Papillon in our case, and to enjoy some kind of private life.”

“It’s a hassle to be famous,” Chat agreed. “Under our masks, we’re pretty average people, and people need to feel like they can go home at the end of the day and be who they _want_ to be for a while instead of who the public wants them to be.”

“Do you two know each other under the masks?”

“No,” lied Ladybug. “It’s as dangerous for us to know as it is for anyone else.”

“If anyone were to find out who we are, it could be a _cat_ astrophe.”

~

_Chat stood in an endless blackness. The only illumination was from faintly glowing white butterflies. He tried to move, but his feet were bogged down._

**_Chat Noir,_ ** _Papillon’s voice echoed through the darkness._ **_I know that you are Adrien Agreste. I know that she is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I will get your Miraculous._ **

_Chat tried to turn, to run away. He had to go find Ladybug, and protect her._

**_You cannot keep resisting,_ ** _Papillon said._ **_There’s too much of me in you._ **

“Adrien!”

Adrien awoke with a start. Marinette was shaking him urgently by the shoulders.

“Whasgoin’on?” he slurred, sitting up. Marinette’s bedroom was dark. “Is it morning? We opening shop already?”

“No, it’s still the middle of the night,” Marinette whispered. “Are you okay? Were you having a nightmare?”

“Yeah, sorry if I woke you,” he sighed, laying back down. “It’s nothing important. Go back to sleep.”

She looked concerned, but he said it was nothing. She followed his advice and went back to bed.

~

“C’mon, dude, talk to me,” said Nino. “I’m you’re best friend.”

“It’s really nothing, I swear,” said Adrien, and his best friend scoffed doubtfully, muttering something along the lines of, “I’ve heard that one before.”

They were at Nino’s house for once. Plagg was dozing off in a pile of old socks on Nino’s bed. Adrien had had the old nightmare four nights in a row now, and when Nino invited him over (“Dude, you still haven’t been to my house, have you? You gotta come over so we can game!”), he had leapt at the opportunity to escape the Dupain-Chengs’ worried glances and concerned whispers. It had kinda worked. He now had the original Ultimate Mecha Strike to distract him. Sadly, there was no way of hiding his returning weariness from Nino’s watchful eye.

Their on-screen avatars battled it out in relative silence for another minute or so, then Adrien was defeated.

Nino put his controller down and favored Adrien with a thoughtful expression.

“So it’s really nothing, huh?” he repeated.

“Yep. That’s what I’ve been saying,” Adrien said uncomfortably.

“Well, hypothetically, if it _was_ something,” Nino said slowly, “you know it would probably be easier on you to tell me, dude.” He picked up his controller and set the game up for the next round.

“What do you mean?” Adrien asked.

“Well,” began Nino as the next match started. “It’s kinda…I dunno…freeing, to talk about stuff with your best friend.”

“Stuff?”

“Yeah, stuff,” affirmed Nino. “It doesn’t have to be big stuff, dude. You could tell me about how your girlfriend wears a perfume you don’t like, and I’d be like, ‘Dude, that sucks,’ and you’d be like, ‘Yeah it does. Thanks for understanding, dude.’”

“Mari doesn’t wear perfume,” said Adrien. “She smells like cookies.”

“You know what I mean, dude,” said Nino. “Take a load off. Complain about something.”

Nino’s character landed three consecutive blows on Adrien’s.

“Her farts smell like warm bread,” Adrien muttered.

“What?!” said Nino, taking his eyes off the screen.

Adrien got in four critical hits and won the match. He laughed at Nino’s expression.

“Not fair, you distracted me! But _dude_ ,” Nino said eagerly. “Alya never farts in front of me. I was starting to think girls don’t fart at all.”

“Mari farts in her sleep,” Adrien confessed with a grin. “I was shocked the first time it happened. I was lying awake, thinking about how I wasn’t able to help the incredible Ladybug in the last few akuma fights, and then the incredible Ladybug herself let one rip.”

Nino hooted with laughter, and Adrien joined him. Nino was right. It was freeing.

When they calmed down sufficiently, Adrien spoke again.

“It’s really not nothing,” he admitted, and Nino sobered immediately. “The nightmares are back, and I don’t know why.”

“Is everything okay with Mari?” Nino asked gently.

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s great in that area,” Adrien assured him. “Everything’s great all around, actually. I’m having the most fun I’ve ever had since my mother disappeared. Maybe even more. But…” His voice trailed off.

Nino put his controller down again, but didn’t say anything. He let Adrien gather his thoughts.

“The nightmare’s a little different every night, action-wise,” Adrien said slowly. “But it always ends the same. Papillon says, ‘You can’t keep resisting. There’s too much of me in you.’” Pause. “The first four akumas…I felt sick after each of them, and it just got worse and worse, like there was still part of them in me…But Ladybug purified the last one, and I felt great. I thought I was…cured, I guess?” Pause. “But it’s clear now that I’m not, otherwise…”

He looked at Nino, unsure if he should continue.

Nino put a comforting hand on his shoulder and said, “Dude, that sucks.”

Adrien let out a shaky laugh, then said, “I know I need to tell the rest of them, and they’ll do whatever they can to help me figure this out. I think I’d feel better about it if you help me tell them.”

“That’s what friends are for, dude.”

“Friends are also for helping you keep secrets, right?” Adrien asked. “Like secrets about bread farts and stuff?”

“Definitely,” laughed Nino.

“Well good, because there’s one more secret that I need to tell you,” said Adrien, suddenly serious. “I don’t want you to tell everyone else this, I just…I need to tell someone. I don’t them rest of them to worry about it.”

Nino hesitated a moment, then nodded in assent. Adrien breathed a sigh of relief.

“This is gonna sound weird but,” he took a deep breath, “I think I might…miss my father?”

“You miss…Gabriel Agreste?” Nino repeated slowly.

“I know, I know,” said Adrien quickly. “He kinda worked me to death and abandoned me in a basement, but hear me out—there was this one night when I was in that basement where either I was dreaming, or he told me to go back to sleep.”

Nino looked confused.

“I mean,” Adrien said, backtracking, “usually when he tells me to do something, he makes me do something that’ll either make our family look good or make me get out of his way, or something. But that night, when he told me to go back to sleep, it was like he actually cared about my well-being for once? He stopped working and got up from his desk just to give me some sleep medicine and tuck me in.

“But the night before the nightmares started up again, I fell asleep thinking about that night…and then I had a dream that felt like a memory from back when my mother was around. I found a little cat out in the street in the rain when she took me shopping with her one day, and I stood over it with my umbrella and refused to budge until my mother agreed to let me take it home. When we brought it home, I cleaned it and dried it and then I told my mother that the cat had to stay with us. It was too dangerous for it outside. I had to protect it.

“She laughed and told me that cats like to wander free in the streets, but she said that she was proud of me and how protective I was. ‘You have so much of your Papa in you,’ she said.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's still a big chunk of story that needs to be written in order for me to wrap this up, but if I end up dragging this out for more than just one more chapter, I'm gonna kick myself in the face. Hopefully there's just one chapter left.
> 
> Sorry not a lot happened in this chapter, but I figured an update was long overdue.
> 
> Thanks for stopping by <3


	7. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I’m Chat-freakin’-Noir! I can fight my own demons!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there is anyone left reading this fic: dear god. I am so sorry about the almost yearlong hiatus. I am also really sorry about this NOT BEING THE LAST CHAPTER. OHMIGOD. I SWEAR I'LL FINISH THIS SOME DAY. Writer's block is broken, three or more drafts of different finishing storylines are trashed,
> 
> AND I'M FINALLY UPDATING. BLESS.
> 
> If you're new, welcome. if you're old, welcome back. Thank you so much for being here.
> 
> I'm going on a trip tomorrow and won't be able to work on this til January RIP

**_Adrien._ **

_Adrien saw Papillon is his periphery and spun toward him. For once, he didn’t vanish as soon as Adrien laid eyes on him. He stood, straight-backed and dignified, all distinguishing features hidden in shadow. Adrien’s breath caught in his throat when he saw the red-clad girl lying limp on the floor at Papillon’s feet._

_Papillon stretched a hand out toward Adrien in invitation, and his voice was stern._ **_Adrien. Come here._ **

Adrien’s eyes fluttered open. Marinette’s room was dark and quiet, excepting Tikki’s soft snores. He heard a sudden gust of wind sweep through the now-bare trees at the park across the street, and shivered when a draft found its way to the chaise where he lay. His skin felt cold and clammy, just like it did most nights now. He was bone tired, but instead of going back to sleep, he rolled out of his blankets and plodded over to the trapdoor.

“Adrien?” Marinette’s sleepy voice rolled down from her bed. “You’re not sneaking down to eat coffee grinds again, are you?”

Adrien halted and shifted guiltily. “It worked last night,” he grumbled.

“You didn’t sleep last night,” Marinette mumbled, sitting up. “You need to sleep.”

“Sleep is the enemy,” Adrien argued.

“ _Adrieeen_ ,” she whined, and put out a beckoning hand towards him. “Come here.”

He cringed inwardly at her unwitting mimicry of his nightmare, but complied. He climbed the ladder and sat on the foot of her bed. She opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was an almighty yawn, so she gave up on words and just made grabbing motions at him with her outstretched arms. He only hesitated a split second before crawling into her embrace. She pulled him close, and lay back down, taking him with her.

She was warm and soft. She smelled of flour. She felt like a loving home. Adrien held her like he was afraid she’d be taken from him at any second. He buried his face in the crook of her neck.

Eventually, her steady breathing and the feeling of her safe and secure in his arms lulled him into a dreamless sleep.

~

“How about you kids take the day off?”

Marinette and Adrien both paused in the middle of putting on their aprons to look back at Tom disbelievingly.

“Take the day off?” Adrien repeated doubtfully.

“Papa, it’s Christmas Eve,” Marinette said. “The busiest day of the year. You and Maman can’t handle it alone.”

“That’s why we’re here,” said Nino’s voice from the front door. Mari and Adrien turned their confused expressions in that direction and beheld Alya and Nino removing their coats and shaking snow off of their feet.

“We’re taking over your jobs,” said Alya briskly. “You two are gonna go take advantage of what a beautiful day it is. Take those aprons off and grab your coats and kwami.”

“Go parkour across the city or something,” Nino suggested.

“Don’t do anything too dangerous,” Sabine said warningly, coming down the stairs.

“But…” Adrien said.

“Don’t you two have families?” Marinette asked, looking at Nino and Alya. “It’s Christmas Eve.”

“My family isn’t religious,” Alya said with a shrug.

“My mom’s always telling me to stop playing video games and go volunteer or something,” Nino said lightly.

“See? We’ve got all the help we need!” said Tom jovially. “Go have fun!”

~

Late in the afternoon, Ladybug and Chat Noir could be seen (if you had a pair of binoculars) lounging near the top of the Eiffel Tower as the sun lazily sank closer to the horizon. The sky was just beginning to change color.

They’d taken full advantage of their day off and were content now to just sit back and appreciate the vibrant city life that surrounded them.

“What a day,” Ladybug sighed.

“We should take breaks more often,” Chat agreed.

They lapsed into silence again. The city sounds were muffled and distant at this height. Chat’s ears eventually focused on the sound of the wind whistling around them. After a few minutes, the wind picked up a notch, and the whistling turned to whining. Chat grimaced. His ears were sensitive and this was a sound that could get annoying fast.

“You ready to head home?” he asked, admiring his Lady.

She looked him in the eye and smirked. “Race you,” she said, then leapt.

“No fair, you have a head start!” Chat yelled after her fading laughter. A heartbeat later, he was chasing after her.

~

_Home sweet home,_ thought Chat triumphantly, landing on the rooftop. He somehow got there first. Ladybug was nowhere in sight. He couldn’t believe his luck.

_Maybe she’s hiding down in the courtyard or the gardens, or–_ he froze suddenly, a realization hitting him like a bucket of cold water. _Home_ wasn’t supposed to have a courtyard or garden.

He was on the roof of the Agreste mansion, not the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

The air was too thin, and it was getting hard to breathe.

_This isn’t home,_ he thought in a panic. _I shouldn’t be here. This isn’t home._

He extended his baton and vacated the rooftop, running across rooftops like he was being chased by a demon.

He didn’t slow down until a couple of streets over from the bakery. He dropped down in an alleyway and released his transformation.

Plagg flew out of the ring while Adrien leaned forward with his hands on his knees, gulping in deep breaths and trying to slow down his pounding heart. He felt the kwami settle gently on his shoulder and start to rub comforting little circles on the back of his neck. The pair stayed like this for several minutes, then Adrien straightened and looked up at the darkening sky.

“You wanna talk?” Plagg asked quietly.

Adrien considered it, then shook his head. “Just…help me think up a convincing excuse for losing the race.”

“That’s not exactly healthy,” Plagg remarked.

“They’re worried enough already,” Adrien shot back. “They treat me like– like I’m some delicate child, about to break at any second! I’m Chat- _freakin’_ -Noir! I can fight my own demons.”

“You might fight them better with support,” offered Plagg, floating off of the shoulder and into Adrien’s view.

“Well, I… I have you to support me. Right?”

“You got me there, kid,” Plagg sighed.

Adrien tried to give him a thankful smile, but a grimace was all he could manage. Plagg accepted it with grace, and they transformed again.

~

Marinette shifted her weight anxiously from foot to foot, nervously waiting on the roof. She’d been suitably pleased with herself when she’d walked into the bakery before Chat caught up, and feasted on a victory cookie. She’d cheerfully wished Alya and Nino a Merry Christmas as they dragged themselves exhausted through the front door to start heading home. She thought Chat was right behind her, but too much time had passed and she was almost in a full-blown panic.

Then, just as she was about to call Tikki to transform her again, there was a flash of green light behind her. She spun around to face him as he strolled over looking like he hadn’t a care in the world. Panic abruptly turned to annoyance.

“Where’ve you been?” Marinette snapped, rushing over and capturing him in a tight hug.

“Who, me?” he asked innocently. _Back straight_ _and smile like you have a secret,_ said a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like the overenthusiastic Italian photographer who used to do most of his shoots _._

Marinette took a step back to glare at him.

“Well, as much as I enjoy chasing after my Lady’s backside,” he said nonchalantly and she snorted, “I heard a cry for help that I simply could not ignore.”

Marinette’s eyes went wide and her body went tense. “An akuma?” she prompted urgently. Adrien shook his head and made a placating gesture.

_Tilt your head to the left. Chin high. Give me drama, but make it nostalgic. Perfect, hold for the picture._ “In the fading light, I heard a forlorn ‘meow,’” Adrien whispered dramatically. “One of my own called to me. There was no time to waste.” _Look into the camera now. Give me intensity._ “I deviated from my course to find the damsel in distress: a kitten stuck in a tree.”

“Liar,” Marinette snorted.

_Look at the camera like you would die for it. I want earnestness. We have to sell this. Stop sweating, you’ll melt off the makeup. Now smile and say your line, and make me believe it._ “I swear,” said Adrien, with a dazzlingly practiced grin, “I, Chat Noir, hero of Paris, was late because I went to rescue a kitten from a tree.”

“Marinette, is he home yet?” Tom’s voice floated up from the house. “Dinner’s ready!”

“Coming, Papa!” said Marinette, and she dashed over to the trapdoor.

Adrien followed more slowly, Plagg drifting along beside him.

“That was quite a performance,” said Plagg, dryly impressed.

“Thanks,” said Adrien humorlessly. “I like to think I learned a thing or two after all those years of modeling.”

~

_Papa? Where’s Maman?_

**_Go to bed, Adrien. I need to work._ **

_She’s coming back soon, right? We have to wrap the presents, decorate the house–_

**_Adrien, for the last time, I need to work._ **

_B-but…Where’s–_

**_Adrien, get OUT!_ **

“Adrien, wake up!” Marinette’s insistent whisper jolted Adrien out of his dream.

His eyes flew open and his heart pounded wildly.

“Adrien, it’s Christmas! Come on, we need gotta go open our presents!” Marinette shook him violently by the shoulders.

“Our what now?” Adrien asked, bewildered.

“Our Christmas presents! It’s midnight, get out of bed, come onnnn!”

The light turned on, and Adrien hissed and threw up his arms to block his eyes.

“Marinette,” yawned Tom from the trapdoor, “your mother sent me up here to tell you to go back to bed.”

“But Papaaaa,” Marinette whined.

“Wait until m-m- _moooorning,”_ said Tom, attempting to sound strict as he yawned harder. “Let Adrien sleep.”

“Ugh, _fine_ ,” said Marinette. She left Adrien’s side and skulked back to the ladder.

“‘Night, kids,” said Tom, turning off the light.

“‘Night, Papa,” Marinette responded while Adrien sighed in relief. His heart rate began to calm down.

Marinette grumbled all the way back up the ladder and huffed in annoyance when she crashed back onto the bed. Then she whined and grumbled piteously, sounding muffled, like her face was in a pillow. Adrien tried to ignore her, but her volume rose insistently.

“S’mthin’ wrong, m’lady?” Adrien finally mumbled, eyes squeezed shut.

Her grumbling grew even louder.

Adrien heaved a long-suffering sigh. “The lady gets what the lady wants,” he whispered, slowly rolling out of bed. “C’mon, Mari.”

The grumbling stopped abruptly, then Marinette was quietly scrambling down the ladder again. It was a simple matter for Paris’ superheroes to sneak down to the living room without alerting Marinette’s parents. Quiet as a cat and a bug, they crept through the shadows, Adrien yawning every few steps.

The living room was lit softly by strings of lights running along the walls and wrapping themselves around the tree in the corner. The tree itself was nowhere near as big as the ones Adrien’s father would buy. Adrien loved it all the more for that.

“I think, on principle,” said Adrien as they settled themselves on the floor near the tree, “we should only open one gift each for now. We’ll open the rest when everyone’s awake.”

“But Adrii _eeeeen_ ,” Marinette whined.

“C’mon, do you know how long its been since I’ve had a family to open presents with?” Adrien reasoned.

She acquiesced immediately. Then she grabbed a box from under the tree wrapped in red with black polka dots.

“For you,” she whispered, handing it to him. He accepted it, and she turned back to rummage through the gifts.

His hand paused on the black ribbon as he realized belatedly: “I didn’t get you guys anything.”

Marinette scoffed, not pausing. “You’ve had a rough year, kitty. Don’t worry about it. You don’t need to get us anything.”

“Yes I do,” he said at normal volume.

She shushed him, and he sighed and returned his attention to the box in his lap. He tried to tear the wrapping paper as quietly as possible. He removed the lid, and then there it was: a ladybug plush. Just like the one he’d had to tear in two because it had an akuma. He paused, then leaned over to Marinette and planted a kiss on her cheek. She turned in time to see him snuggle the bug close. She turned away before he started visibly trembling.

~

_There was something, or someone, on the periphery of Adrien’s vision. He turned this way and that, trying to see, but making out nothing. Whatever it was kept darting out of the way._

_“I must be dreaming again,” he said aloud._

_It was deathly silent. There was no discernible color around. He couldn’t tell if it was bright or dark or something in between. He felt at once like he was breathing deeply and suffocating simultaneously. If someone were to ask how he felt, he would probably answer “panicked” and “relaxed” in the same breath._

_“Where are you, Papillon?” he asked without the sensation of speaking._

_There was no answer for what could’ve either been a moment or a century, and then,_

**_I’m home. Come home, Adrien._ **

_Adrien whirled slowly as the unchanging dreamscape shifted, and there he saw standing—_

_“Maman? Papa?”_

_They opened their mouths and spoke simultaneously, an ominous shadow looming behind them:_ **_It’s Christmas, Adrien. Come home. We’ll finally be a family again._ **

Adrien’s eyes fluttered open for the second time that night—or morning—and he briefly choked on air he could not breathe. In his hammering heart, he could feel the truth with absolute certainty.

His mother and father were waiting for him at the Agreste mansion. He had to go home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Righto. Gettin on a plane tomorrow.
> 
> Let me know if you spot something that needs fixing.
> 
> Thanks for stopping by, guys. I love you. Especially the ones who bugged me every now and then to keep writing. I finally did it. Are you proud of me?
> 
> I love you~ byeee
> 
> EDIT: I have a tumblr, by the way, and if you'd like to stop by there and like....idk.........talk to me?? it's mokklie.tumblr.com


	8. Sweet Sunshine Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one time he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I did my ideas justice, but I'm not sure. You guys can let me know after you've read it. I may decide to edit this chapter in the morning if I wake up and re-read it and it doesn't make any sense, but anyways I'm tired so I'm gonna post this.
> 
> Stuff begins to go down.

Marinette was suddenly completely awake. She didn’t move a muscle, didn’t open her eyes. She just listened intently.

She heard nothing. _Hearing nothing is good, right?_ she asked herself. _Wrong._ Nothing meant none of Plagg’s snores or Adrien’s vague sleep-mumbling.

She was out of bed in a flash, dashing over to Adrien’s chaise. It looked like he was there, and for a split second, she dared to believe it, but then she yanked back his blanket and revealed only a pile of skillfully arranged pillows. Panic rising, she desperately rummaged through the pile. A piece of paper fell to the floor, and she snatched it up then hurried over to the light switch and flipped it on. There wasn’t much written on the paper, but Marinette’s eyes scanned the words over and over. Her expression was a mixture of fear and disbelief.

_I don’t belong here. I’m putting you in danger. Don’t follow me._

“Whus’ wrong, Marinette?” Tikki yawned, drifting down from the bed.

“They’re gone,” Marinette replied shortly, hurrying over to her dresser. She put the note on top of it.

“Gone?” Tikki squeaked in alarm.

“Can you grab some cookies and camembert from downstairs while I change, Tikki?”

The kwami didn’t have to be told twice. She picked up Marinette’s purse from her desk and zipped down the trapdoor while Marinette grabbed any clothes that looked warm.

By the time Tikki returned, Marinette was all set. She thanked the kwami and put her purse on, then turned off the light.

“Tikki, transform me!” she called.

After a flash of red light, Ladybug threw open the roof trapdoor and was off.

Marinette’s room was silent once more. A chill breeze ghosted in through the trapdoor, and the note on the dresser fluttered uncertainly. Had anybody been in the room, they might’ve heard a faint melody in the whistling of the wind. It almost sounded like a flute. Then the words on the paper shivered and the message changed.

_Don’t worry. Going for a walk to clear my head. We’ll be back before dawn._

~

Adrien wandered through the streets of Paris, bundled in winter clothing. Plagg hummed tunelessly from his scarf and took a bite of camembert.

“Plagg?” said Adrien.

“Hmm?” Plagg hummed.

“Thanks for, uh, talking me out of going back…there,” Adrien said carefully. He didn’t want to call that place home. Home was obviously with Marinette, who he planned to tell about his latest dream in the morning. If anything, they could go check out the Agreste mansion together.

“Well, at least one of us has to use his head, kid,” Plagg said snidely, then softened and continued, “but, uh, you’re welcome.”

Adrien paused under a streetlight and peered up at the sky. No stars were visible, due to either the city lights or the clouds.

He recalled a vacation his family had once taken to the Italian countryside when he was very young. They stayed in a simple house on an extensive piece of land for three nights, and on the last night when everything was dark, Adrien remembered his mother waking him up. They’d snuck through the house, past the room where his father was snoring, and out the front door. There was a pickup truck parked outside; they must have rented it. Now that he thought of it, that was a really odd choice of car. His mother took him to the truck and lifted him into the bed of it, which was filled with pillows and blankets taken from inside the house. Then she climbed in after him, and they made themselves comfortable, and then Adrien stared up at the star-filled sky in awe while his mother named every constellation in the heavens and told their stories. When Adrien woke the next morning back inside the house, he almost thought it was a dream. The only reason he knew it wasn’t was that when they got back to Paris, Mrs. Agreste bought him a book about the constellations. 

_“My sweet sunshine boy,” she said to him. “Listen to every word I say. This book is a gift, so you must treat it nicely. Make sure you don’t lose it. Can you do that for your Maman?”_

He’d lost it shortly before his mother disappeared.

“Wanna head home?” asked Plagg, finished with his cheese.

“Sure,” said Adrien, rubbing out the crick in his neck from staring at the sky for several minutes. “Claws out.”

~

Chat Noir landed on the Dupain-Cheng roof, surprised to see the trapdoor open. He was pretty sure he’d closed it.

A cold feeling settled in the pit of his stomach, and he dove through the door onto her empty, messy bed. He looked down at the chaise, where the blanket looked like it’d been yanked back. He saw his note sitting on the dresser, so she had obviously seen it. Why had she gone after him?

His cat ears twitched suddenly and he whipped his head around to look back up at the trapdoor.

_Was that music?_

He jumped back out of the room and stood on the roof, then looked around wildly. He froze. Floating out in the open a short distance from the end of the roof, a small, white, glowing butterfly flapped serenely. It fluttered in the general direction of Agreste mansion. Taunting him.

~

Ladybug swung frantically through Paris. Where could Adrien have gone? Why didn’t Plagg stop him? What was _I’m putting you in danger_ supposed to mean? She was a goddamn superhero! She could handle danger!

The she’d checked all their usual meeting places for patrol, and he hadn’t been at any of them. Out of ideas, she stopped on a random rooftop and looked around.

Suddenly, she noticed a person standing about four rooftops away from her. They were dressed darkly, their scarf flapped in the wind, and she wouldn’t have noticed them but for the way they were silhouetted against the brightening sky. They were tall and thin, and stood with a rigidly straight back.

Her heart stopped.

She would recognize Adrien’s father anywhere.

~

Chat Noir pried open his old bedroom window. He’d learned how to unlock it from the outside back when he was living there. The room was exactly how he’d left it, down to the cotton stuffing littering the floor. The dust of the room made him sneeze.

He’d seen a light on in the study from outside the house, and since he had no other leads on where Marinette could possibly be, that was where he headed. The halls and stairways were dark, and little clouds of dust appeared wherever he stepped.

Light shone out of the study with its door open slightly. Chat moved toward it as if he were in a dream. He pushed the door fully open with one hand. The room was bright and smelled of tea, and a blonde woman sat in one of the cushy chairs with a book about constellations open in her hand. Her brilliant green eyes stared into his, and she smiled warmly.

His heart stopped.

He would recognize his mother anywhere.

~

“Ladybug,” grunted Mr. Agreste by way of greeting.

“Where have you been?” she demanded.

“Biding my time,” he replied shortly. “But since you’re out here at this time of night, it must have just run out.”

“What are you talking about?” she snapped. “Do you have something to do with your son’s disappearance?”

His eyes glinted and a sinister, humorless smile graced his features.

“Unfortunately,” he confirmed.

~

“Adrien?” Mrs. Agreste breathed. “Is that you?”

“Maman?” Chat whispered with a shaky voice. “W-what?”

“Adrien,” she repeated, standing and holding her arms out to him. “My sweet sunshine boy, come here.”

He ran to her and hugged her tightly. She felt smaller than he remembered. He breathed her scent – one he hadn’t smelled in years – and tears began to well up in his eyes.

_Maman!_ his thoughts screamed. He was delighted, shocked, confused. _Maman is home! She’s home!_

He couldn’t think of anything else. She started to pull away from him and he held on tighter.

“Adrien,” she said gently, “I got you something.”

Curious, he let her go. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a thin gold chain necklace. From it hung a small diamond-studded constellation that he recognized as Scorpius, who in Greek mythology was sent by Artemis and Leto to stop Orion from killing every animal on Earth. She fastened the necklace around his neck. The constellation hung a few inches below his bell.

His brain started to catch up with him, and questions began to bubble up. The most important being:

“Why did you leave us?” He stared searchingly into her eyes.

She looked away. “Your father,” she said simply. “He discovered something terrible, and it was consuming him. I had to leave for fear of my life, and I wasn’t able to take you.”

“What?” he asked, recoiling. “What does that mean?”

“He became Papillon,” she said, and Chat’s blood ran cold. “I came back for you once I heard the the akuma attacks had sto–” she stopped suddenly.

They both heard the distant creak of the front door. Chat heard a yell from his Lady, and then a sharp _crack_.

He dashed out of the study, his heart beating wildly. He sprinted to the foyer and found himself at the top of the foyer stairs. The front door was thrown open. A tall, thin man who could only be Papillon stood stick-straight with a cane in his hand. It looked to be more decorative than functional.

Ladybug was a limp tangle of red-clad arms and legs at the bottom of the stairs.

Papillon’s cold eyes met his. Papillon reached an inviting hand towards him, then his mouth opened and he spoke in Gabriel Agreste’s stern voice:

“Adrien. Come here.”

For the space of two heartbeats, neither of them moved. Then Chat Noir let out a bloodcurdling scream of “ _Cataclysm!_ ” and leapt from the banister.

Papillon didn’t move a muscle, and Chat sailed straight through him like he wasn’t there. Chat landed on the floor and turned over quickly to see the illusion of the man flicker. His Cataclysm had hit its intended target and the image dissipated into black smoke.

“Incredible,” said a woman’s voice from the top of the stairs.

Chat looked up sharply and saw his mother walking slowly, deliberately down the stairs.Between them, a dark butterfly fluttered lazily toward him, but he couldn’t bring himself to move.

“You would trust the word of a woman you haven’t seen in years,” continued Mrs. Agreste, an unpleasant twist to the corner of her mouth. “over the man who cared for you your whole life. He must really be a bad father.”

She raised a hand and snapped as she kept walking down. Ladybug wavered and dissipated, and Mrs. Agreste’s outfit morphed into a dark costume, similar to the fake Papillon’s, but with reddish maroons instead of purples. At her neck was a butterfly brooch, and hanging beneath it was a fox necklace.

She reached the bottom of the stairs and sneered at Chat’s gaping mouth and uncomprehending expression.

“I can’t believe you just tried to kill your own father over absolutely nothing,” she remarked with a disapproving shake of her head. “And you aren’t even akumatized yet.”

The dark butterfly reached him and landed on his necklace. Every muscle in his body seized up as its dark magic spread through him.

Mrs. Agreste walked right up to him and crouched down. She lifted a hand and ruffled his hair with mock affection.

**“ _My sweet sunshine boy,_** ” his mother cooed at him, her voice – _Papillon’s_ voice– deep and distorted. “ ** _Listen to every word I say and you will be able to make up for failing those you love. Find me Ladybug’s Miraculous and then give me yours. Can you do that for your Maman?”_**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoopsidy doopsidy. Next chapter will hopefully explain whatever needs to be explained, but in the meantime, ask me questions here. I'll answer if it doesn't spoil what I have planned.
> 
> Thank you for stopping by. <3
> 
> EDIT: I just realized I don't have an akuma name in mind for Adrien. Any ideas?


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